You're in my head
by PepperonyOwl
Summary: What if that moment in China, Ranma really never did say "I love you" out loud. What if he'd thought it? And what if Akane can suddenly hear just those thoughts in her own head just as Ranma can hear hers? What if the Saotome foot-in-mouth syndrome can't take hold? What if Akane can see his intentions without misinterpretation? What if they can finally communicate?
1. Sex appeal

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½ nor do I make any money out of writing this. Just borrowing the characters and settings.

I know I keep writing Ranma/Akane at the moment, but having reread some chapters, including the latest one with China I couldn't help but think what if Akane really could read Ranma's thoughts? So, based on that premise, here's my first attempt. Let me know what you think!

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The week after the failed wedding seemed neverending. The Tendos and Ranma were living together whilst Nodoka had had her house repaired and unceremoniously asked her husband to spend some time with her to remember his manners. Needless to say, Ranma had not wanted to be in the house and finally had a room to himself at the Tendo's.

Akane and Ranma were on tiptoes around each other, confused and unsure, second-guessing every word they said and every action taken. This meant they would not spend more than ten minutes in the same room with one another, uncertain if the other was angry, annoyed, upset or sad. Unfortunately – or fortunately, circumstances soon forced both to a more honest and self-appraising approach towards each other.

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_'AKANE!'_

The blue haired girl's eyes opened cautiously upon hearing the shout, examining her surroundings before taking any action. It was just past dawn and the voice had sounded like her fiancé's, but... he was nowhere in sight.

Before she could get up, footsteps sounded quietly outside her bedroom. Deciding that a cautious – and curious – approach was best for now, Akane evened her breathing and pretended to be asleep. She knew it was Ranma from the sound of him, the cautiousness and then the sigh of relief that followed it.

_'She's safe. She's alive. Everything's okay; she's okay. Better leave now or she'll catch me staring at her asleep... that sounded creepy. And then she'll accuse me of being a pervert again. Argh, bath. Now. Maybe it'll wake me up.'_

The door closed just as quietly, whilst Akane stared at the ceiling in shock. Ranma – he had been worried. About her...

She couldn't fault him for it. The stuff that had happened with Saffron – it still sent a shiver down her spine every now and then and she couldn't be more grateful for Ranma's stubborn and persistent refusal to leave her sight since then. He was the only one that made her feel safe anymore, but she hadn't realised that he felt the same.

A flush bloomed on her cheeks as she thought about her fiancé. He must have been dreaming about what had happened in China, and he was worried about her. How sweet.

Deciding not to mention the dream and be extra nice to him, Akane turned off her alarm and started getting ready for the day ahead; their first day back at school.

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"Good Morning Ranma!"

Aforementioned boy paused in shovelling the food in his mouth. Something was off. All his instincts were screaming danger and he stared at his fiancée suspiciously. She'd not been nice to him since over a week ago, especially not this overly sweet. Something was off.

"Okay, what do you want?"

Akane blinked. Want?

"Nothing, why would I want anything?"

'...suspicious... plan... off'

"If you say so..."

Akane, meanwhile, was staring at the boy in front of her. What had that been? That was very odd. She could have sworn she'd heard him say something but his mouth hadn't moved until the "if you say so". What was going on here?

Biting her lip to keep her peace, Akane concentrated on her breakfast. Quietly both made their way to school, ignoring her dad crying in the corner about the fake wedding, Nabiki adding up all the damages and Kasumi quietly cleaning up.

_'Remember, be nice. He is worried about you – that's good. Now, behave.'_, Akane sternly told herself.

"So... Ranma, looking forward to school today?"

Said boy stumbled in his steps on top of the fence slightly as he sent her a queer sideways look that clearly told her what he thought of her question.

"Yeah, you know how much I always enjoy school..." He rolled his eyes and moved forwards again whilst Akane gave a laugh that sounded false and high pitched even to her own ears; but it was better than hitting him._ Be nice – but it's so damn hard!_

Ranma paused, jumped off the fence and moved closely towards her until his face and hers were only separated by a few millimetres.

_'I don't care what she says but something is definitely wrong here. That is not Akane. This is one of these shrill, girly laughs that she does when she's faking and trying to throw you off. Nice try, but I know all your tricks by now, Akane. You're an uncute tomboy not a giggly braindead maniac. Well', _Ranma amended._ 'maybe slightly cute... sometimes. But she is definitely planning something now! I'll figure it out...'_

"Well, we better make a run for it if you still want to be on time for school."

_'What could she be planning?'_

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Akane blushed at his proximity and the intensity of this stare. He was so close to her; in the last week they had avoided being alone in a room, unsure where they stood with each other now, after China. For him to suddenly be so close to her...

_'...wrong... Akane... tricks... uncute... maniac... figure...'_

Hand clenching, fury overtook Akane but Ranma's next words took the fire out of her.

"Well, we better make a run for it if you still want to be on time for school."

Oh no, they were going to be late and on the first day back after half the school had been there for the wedding fiasco. Fantastic!

Cursing, Akane started to run, moving past Ranma.

"But don't think for a moment I've forgotten you insulting my figure!"

Ranma paused, confused as he stared at her back as it slowly disappeared from sight. Her figure? He hadn't in any way, shape or form said anything about her figure! What the...?

The loud bell from school sent him, cursing, hopping across the roofs in a bid to make it to school on time. By some miracle he avoided the usual splashes of water en route and made it, foot inside the door of the classroom, just on time. He was sent to his chair with only a warning glance from his teacher.

Akane studiously ignored him when he sat down next to her and Ranma sat down for a torturously slow three hours until lunch time.

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When the bell finally hit, he was in the yard with Daisuke and Hiroshi before Akane even had time to blink.

Sayuri and Yuka were at her side before she could even contemplate following her fiancé out.

"Is it true? Did you get married? Some say Saotome got cold feet at the last moment."

Her entire class appeared to have halted what they were doing and were staring at her, awaiting her next words. Typical. Gossip-mongers.

Now what? If Ranma had concerns it made her look bad, if she had some then Ranma's masculinity would be in question and if both of them had refused it would deny any feelings between them. God, she hated this – and once again Ranma left her to deal with it. Bastard!

"Well", deciding on a neutral approach, Akane slowly looked at her two friends. "people decided to interfere and by the end of it our house was more destroyed than together; I think you saw that bit. Every lunatic in the vicinity came for a reunion and Ranma was unconscious; either due to violence from his other fiancées or because of his fight with Happosai after he drank the water that could have turned Ranma back permanently. So, as per usual, all our plans were destroyed, property damaged and I think we won't be having a wedding for a while now."

In retrospect, the disaster of her wedding seemed somewhat amusing even if it had hurt her to have this done on her wedding day; she had dressed up and for just a moment, she had been happy. Ah, how fast the wheels turned.

The crowds around her finally dispersed to spread the gossip further – presumably – and she looked at her two friends.

"Fancy being outside?"

Her two friends, bless them, immediately understood her need to be away from the others and consented.

When they had finally found a spot, on the other side of the courtyard from Ranma, Akane unpacked her Bento to share with her friends.

"So, honestly. Where you going to go through with the wedding had there been no interruption?" Yuka looked curiously at her; both friends vaguely knew of her emotional turmoil over the last two years with her fiancé.

Blushing, Akane shyly looked up at her friends.

"I- Yes. I would have. I... I want to marry Ranma, or at least I did – and I would have preferred to have some time beforehand to... you know, become a couple but... with the Nanniichuan at stake I was not averse to having a wedding first."

Sayuri grinned.

"So... Were you looking forward to your wedding night?"

The smile was entirely mischievous and sent Akane blushing, exclaiming at her friend. "SAYURI!"

Unable to stop herself, the blue haired girl looked over to her fiancé. She hadn't really... thought about the wedding night before. They would've been.. Oh dear god, her face must be overheating! And then Ranma's eyes caught hers across the school grounds and she could easily read the concern in him even over this distance.

"Oooh... So you HAVE thought about it! You know, we were starting to think that you didn't think of boys that way with the amount of times Ranma has been half naked in front of you and you – you haven't been bothered one iota and even I can see that he is very well trained, especially in his upper body. But you always seemed... unaffected. Now I see how it is! You are a girl, you do have dirty thoughts!"

Akane blushed even more, ducking her head before sending a small glare at her friend.

"I would prefer if you didn't shout it out loud, you know!"

"You admit it? Woah, what the hell happened in China?!"

And just like that her good mood evaporated.

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"So, how did you manage to avoid this one? Even the date was set and the invitations were sent. We really thought you were going to come back a married man; and I mean, looking at Akane it wasn't exactly a bad option!"

Raising an eyebrow at Daisuke, the boy backpedalled quickly. Everyone and their horse knew that Ranma was protective of all females, but especially Akane; you never – ever – insult her honour or try to actually harm her. He would be out to kill you.

"I just meant that, from a completely platonic brotherly kind of view – she's quite pretty."

Ranma suppressed his blush, having had similar thoughts about his tomboy before.

"I guess... I mean, it's not like I was looking."

Hiroshi grinned, relaxing slightly at the unchanged Ranma in front of them.

"Are you upset you missed out on the wedding night? I mean, damn, I would be. Akane certainly looks rather... flexible."

A rather unmanly squeak escaped the boy in front.

"Wedding night?"

Hiroshi frowned.

"Yeah, I mean... you did realise what would come after the official ceremony, right? You can't have been in the same house with her for all this time and no have thought about... **that**... at least once, right?"

"And I mean, she agreed to the wedding, right? So that means she wanted to... marry you and all that that entails."

Eyes wide, Ranma's head turned and he immediately sought out Akane's eyes in the crowd. Her face was flushed and for a moment he was set to walk across there and check her temperature before he realised his own face was probably on fire and she was likely to receive a similar grilling from her friends.

_'Did she think about this? Did she realise? She does look rather cute when she is embarrassed... she was ... so beautiful in her wedding dress... She wanted to marry me, she agreed to it... Does that mean...?'_

"Akane and I ain't like that!", Ranma protested despite his doubtful thoughts. "She ain't interested in that sort of stuff and... that wouldn't have happened anyway!"

Hiroshi and Daisuke frowned, exchanging glances.

"Is it her, personally? Are you more interested in – what's her name? Shampoo? Or the Okonomiyaki-girl? God, I hope it's not Kodachi, she'd be hell to live with despite any fun you may have in bed. I mean, I guess I can understand that. Akane is more prone to hitting you whilst Shampoo and Ukyo! That's it! Ukyo swarm around you, trying to get dates and basically rub themselves all over you whilst, in Shampoo's and Kodachi's case certainly, exposing more skin than they're hiding. But have you thought about this?"

"ARGH! That's not what I am saying! I don't- I'm not!", Ranma protested, groaning. This was not the fun lunchtime he'd envisioned.

"They may be pretty but it's not like that. I'd rather kiss a cactus than Shampoo or Kodachi. Both girls are nuts; Shampoo chased me and pop all over China for two weeks; she's like a dog with a bone. And everyone knows the Kuno's all have a few screws loose. Nah. Not my thing. And Ucchan is ... well, I still think of her as a guy and a great friend, not anything...** that** way. I mean, they're all attractive but not such a great personality... you know..."

Daisuke blinked.

"Right, Ranma. You realise we're talking about fucking them not marrying them, right?"

The poor boy stammered and hopped around them in a wild circle, madly denying anything and everything. The other two just sighed and let the subject drop. Ranma was fun to be around and all the excitement around him was certainly interesting but his inability to discuss more... male subjects and his poor social skills sometimes put a dampener on the conversations. They had thought what with the attempted wedding and everything that this would have changed; unfortunately that didn't seem to be the case.

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Akane startled out of her conversation with Yuka when she heard Ranma's voice.

_'...she realise?... Cute when... beautiful... wedding dress... me... that mean?'_

The blue haired girl looked over automatically and for just a moment their eyes met, before he focussed on his friends again. Akane paused.

_'Ranma is all the over on the other side of the courtyard. That can't possibly be him... But then, I'd recognise his voice anywhere. That's definitely him... What's going on? How can I possibly hear him from over here? And is he thinking about me being beautiful in the wedding dress? That's... kind of flattering. He hasn't seen anyone else in a wedding dress, so he must have meant me, right? He even said I looked cute and beautiful on the day... so surely- hold on! Thinking! That's the key. This morning – and back in China! He wasn't talking, his mouth was closed. Was he thinking? Am I hearing Ranma's thoughts?'_

Wide eyed Akane stared blankly ahead, trying to process this latest change. It wasn't that farfetched considering even half of the other things they had been through.

_'Oh god, can he hear my thoughts? Does he know what I am thinking? Will I hear everyone's thoughts – no, that makes no sense. So far it's only been Ranma and it's only snippets ... Except for this morning. Why was this morning different? Or was he talking then? And god, I hope he can't hear my thoughts. Surely he would have said something... But then again, I didn't say anything either.'_

"God, why can't our lives ever be normal!", groaned Akane before burying her face in her arms to the surprise of her two friends.

"Akane? What's wrong?", Sayuri's voice shook her out of her musings and she focussed on her friends again. She hadn't told them anything about what happened in China and they had simply been gossiping about Yuka's latest boyfriend and the latest trends and happenings of high school. Her sudden mood change was probably rather unexpected.

"I- Nothing, I just..." Akane sighed. In truth she knew this was nothing she could share with her friends, just like so many things before. She so desperately just wanted to fit in but she practiced martial arts as did her fiancé, she was engaged to the number one boy at school and had the oddest occurrences happening around her; most of them dangerous in one way or another. Information such as this one, which could potentially be used against either her or Ranma, could not be discussed with them.

And it galled her that no one had ever asked this of her; it had been her decision alone. There was a limit on the amount of information and the extent of it that she could share with what used to be her best friends. She had what could only be described as a rather superficial relationship with them.

She could share her feelings with them but not explain how Ranma defended her or what happened to cause the disasters in the first place. It was... straining. Every now and then she would bribe Ranma with ice cream and she'd have a chat with his... female half? It was freeing but it had been a long time. She wasn't sure how to bring up the Saffron-thing – wasn't sure if she was even ready to talk about it yet. And there was no way she could talk about her feelings about him with him...

Every relationship she had, she needed to be careful about whom she could say what to and it simply wasn't fair.

The bell rang as a warning and she uttered platitudes to her friends, distracting them as she had been forced to do before. There was nothing she could do about her situation, though she did need to find out if Ranma was able to hear her thoughts.

Unfortunately she only had one idea for a failsafe reaction from her fiancé.

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Unsure how this thought transference thing worked, Akane tried thinking as loudly as she could.

_'I WANT TO SEE RANMA NAKED!'_

Akane frowned when Ranma did not even look her way, blush or otherwise show a reaction. So... only her then?

_'Boring... Can't sleep. Watch Akane.'_

Despite her best intentions, Akane's head moved up quickly. He was watching her?

It took another moment and quick glances at Ranma's body language before her brain caught up. He was watching out for her, not watching her per se.

God, how was she ever going to do this? Should she tell him? But... this was her one chance to actually find out what Ranma was thinking of her. He would be unguarded...

On the other hand, it was a huge invasion of his privacy and she would be furious with him if he did the same to her. She couldn't do that to him... but she'd finally know for sure!

For the rest of school, Akane's focus was on her ethical and moral dilemma and it took Ranma standing in front of her, for her to snap out of it.

"You ready to go, Akane?"

"Hmm? Uh, ye-yes, of course Ranma."

Quickly packing her bag she stood up and followed him outside.

_'Akane... weird again... this morning... plotting? Or is something wrong?'_

"I... Ranma, we need to talk."

_'Uh-oh'_

"It's nothing bad, it's just... Ranma, I... God, this is hard!", frustrated, Akane punched the wall on her side. Ranma fluidly moved into a fighting stance.

"You wanna fight?"

Akane couldn't help but snort. Would he be thinking about his moves? Would she know every move before he did it and thus defeat him, for once? Ah, who was she kidding; whilst she had kept training, she had neither the strength, stamina nor speed that Ranma had. And that wasn't even taking into account any of the techniques he knew. Even if she knew every move he took it would be a challenge and she doubted she'd beat him.

But that was okay, because he was always protecting her.

Her smile softened as her eyes warmly looked at her fiancé, whose movement halted and he slowly moved back to his normal stance, eyes intently on hers.

_'Cute...'_

Her cheeks blushed and she looked down, embarrassed.

"I can hear what you're thinking", Akane burst out, realising that knowing what Ranma was thinking was flattering but it would be much nicer if he actually said it to her rather than a subconscious thought.

"Oookay? As in you know what I would really like for dinner?"

Akane shook her head, before squaring her shoulders and facing him head on.

"I am sorry, but it took me until lunch time to figure out. I can hear your thoughts – or at least snippets of them."

Ranma flushed. Lunchtime he'd been talking about... certain things he certainly didn't want Akane knowing that he thought about.

"What did you hear at lunch time?"

Akane looked puzzled as Ranma cowered away from her and looked uncertain as to why she wasn't beating him up.

"I... am not sure", she found herself saying. "Like I said, it's only snippets. Why, what were you thinking about?"

"I – nothing! Nothing at all. I mean, there is nothing worth thinking about, right?"

Akane hesitated. What did that even mean? She knew there was some sort of hidden meaning and Ranma was cautious, so this was probably about emotions. Maybe she should reassure him - in the usual roundabout way that had become their normal way of communicating feelings. None of his thoughts were getting through to her and this seemed a likely option.

"Maybe, maybe not."

As she had tried to maintain eye contact with Ranma she watched as he blushed scarlet and gaped at her, before, embarrassed, starting to fiddle with his clothing.

"I.. you.. I... we had never... I didn't..."

_'Consummation... wedding... Akane... want...'_

At hearing those thoughts it was Akane's time to be embarrassed.

"I thought you were talking about feelings! I didn't realise... I thought... Oh god!"

Fully mortified now at this misunderstanding she hid her face behind her hands, tempted to just run home blindly and lock herself in her room. She felt more than heard as Ranma came closer, feeling his body heat hers before a large, masculine hand landed on her back.

Looking up, she noticed he wasn't looking in her face but away, cheeks still slightly red.

"It's Hiroshi and Daisuke... I didn't – I would never... err... say anything, you know?"

Against her will, Akane smiled. Typically awkward, but every now and then Ranma said just the right things.

"I know. Can we just pretend this never happened?"

"Sounds good to me."

She could hear the relief in his voice.

_'...remember. Does this... Akane wants...?'_

"Eh... Ranma... I can still hear you."

It took him a moment to catch on and when he did he flushed first, but that went away quickly as he angrily kicked a lamp post.

"It's thoughts, Akane. Not like I can just stop them."

"I am not sure I want you to. I kind of like hearing your thoughts every now and then. It's... reassuring."

The boy didn't look back and they continued on their way home.

"So... Any idea how?"

"No, best I can figure the first time was after ... I thought... in china. When you said you didn't say it? I... think that's when it started. I have been hearing snippets but over the last day – so since we have been together in the same room for longer than ten minutes, I have been able to occasionally even get a full sentence. But I have no idea what caused it. Dying whilst fighting a sort of god... don't think there's a handbook out there for me."

She watched as Ranma's hands clenched.

_'Failed... couldn't protect her...'_

Her eyes softened as her heart went out to her fiancé. She didn't like remembering it either; it had been a particularly close call and they both knew it. It had scared her.

"Ranma?"

"Hmm?"

"I.. am not ready to talk about what happened, but I think you should know that you are the only one who makes me feel safe."

Eyes blazing, Ranma whirled around.

"What does that matter? I couldn't protect you, Akane. You nearly died – in my arms. And I could not do a damned thing to save you. I... I was helpless. Without you, I don't think I would have won and you nearly died, you stupid, selfless, uncute tomboy! I- We nearly lost you and I was meant to protect you! Damn it!"

Akane smiled softly.

"It's okay, I'm okay. We did make it all out of there alive. And you forget – I can protect myself. I am a martial artist and I know all the risks. It was no different than any of the previous fights where you protected me and didn't save yourself. This- this was no different. I know the risks, Ranma. But you have to let me fight too. Even if it is tomboyish, I will not back down from a fight or a challenge. I... I like that I can rely on you to protect me, but if you taught me we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place! I know I am not as skilled as Shampoo nor do I know how to use weapons like Ukyo, but you can teach me, Ranma. Please. I-"

Akane took a deep breath, brown eyes meeting blue ones, silently pleading.

"I don't want to be helpless anymore, Ranma. Please..."

_'She's right. I can't be around her 24/7. I can't protect her.'_

Sighing, Akane stepped closer to Ranma and her arms went around him in a warm embrace. Maybe she was pushing too much.

"I- you are right. But I won't go easy on you, you realise that? You have to let me know if it's too far. I was only taught by dad... and as you know, for him there is no limit to sacrifice for martial arts. So, let me know if training methods are off. Promise?"

His hot breath ghosted over her ear and she could feel a shiver of pleasure run through her body, setting her nerves on fire.

"I promise. Thank you. I know how hard this must be for you."

They separated and Ranma looked uncharacteristically serious.

_'Don't want to hit you...'_

"You are insulting me as a martial artist by even thinking that."

"Akane?"

"Yes?"

"I... I can hear your thoughts too, you know."

Wide eyed, Akane's head shot up and met Ranma's mischievous grin before he shot ahead.

"RANMA!"

Furious – and embarrassed – Akane shot after her fiancé.

_'God, I hope he didn't hear what I thought when I returned to the classroom!'_

The look and grin he sent back at her told her everything she needed to know; he had. Fuming she put on an extra burst of speed and caught him on his back, sending him down into the water before he had a chance to regain his balance. An annoyed, female Ranma came back up, but not before sending her another smirk.

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"So... when did you realise?"

Akane sat awkwardly in the dojo. It was hers and Ranmas 'neutral' zone. They had endured a dinner with her family before realising they really needed to talk to clear this up.

_'Pretty much when you came into the classroom and thought... what you thought. No one else was reacting and then you were thinking about telling me so I kept quiet.'_

Ranma was clearly thinking, before addressing her out loud, intent expression on his face as if he was studying a new technique.

"I was curious, sorry. You could hear all that, couldn't you?"

"I- Yes. How did you...?"

_'I am... I don't know, pushing the thought towards you? Eye contact seems to help. Unfortunately I can't seem to suppress my thoughts from you, just communicate this way with you.'_

_'...Like this? Can you hear this?'_

To Ranma's amusement even her thoughts sounded hesitant.

"Yep. I hear you loud and clear."

_'So what, this is another oddity in our life? Will this go away or are we stuck like this?'_

_'Dunno. But it could be pretty interesting communicating like this. At least your sister won't be able to listen in on us. Neither will your or my dad.'_

Akane giggled, imagining Nabiki outside the door trying to make out any noises.

_'That is a funny image. Didn't know I would be able to see things you're imagining.'_

Almost in the same moment they both realised the implications of any daydreams or nightly dreams they might have being shared, eyes wide and faces scarlet they stared at each other.

_'Fuck!'_

Akane suddenly bend over, laughing.

"Akane? What's wrong?"

Ranma leant over, concerned, but shot back the moment he heard her thoughts.

_'Literally?'_

"Akane!"

_'It's not that funny, you know!' _

Despite his thoughts, a reluctant smile was tugging at his lips.

_'Okay, it's not.'_

Akane's head came back up and as soon as she met Ranma's eyes both were doubled over in laughter.

_'You know... that this makes no sense. It's not even that funny.'_

_'It kinda is. We were going to get married just a week ago. We were about to DO more than any images we may have or not have and now here we are. I had never... I mean, I have thought about it but not... you know, as reality, as us, as so soon. It just, they were such separate events to me. I... Have you ever...?'_

Ranma grumbled, looking at the ground before replying. It was... somehow easier in his thoughts to talk to Akane. As though he was only talking to himself and it just so happened she could listen to it; which was good because his thoughts and his actual words often didn't match.

_'I am a boy, you know. I have... thought about it... but admittedly I didn't think about it in connection to the wedding either. Like you said; two very separate things. I mean, I would like to kiss you fi-'_

Realising what he was about to admit to, Ranma's head shot up.

_'I mean-'_

Akane's hand covered his and paused his thoughts momentarily.

_'So would I.'_

Both teenagers exchanged embarrassed smiles at the admission. They had come close so many times over the last two years but had never actually taken that last step, never felt what it would be like to kiss each other.

_'So...'_

Twisting his braid, Ranma looked at her uncertainly.

_'Have you ever, you know... thought about me... us that way?'_

Akane flushed and before she could help it she remembered the one moment she always recalled whenever she had any thoughts of them together.

Ranma, in her front yard, doing one of the more complicated kata without his shirt on, skin glistening with sweat as his body moved fluidly, dangerously, through the complicated motions. Moments like those she could definitely see themselves doing other... strenuous activities. The play of muscles under his skin, his grace and yet the contradictory tenderness in his arms whenever he held her and the deadliness of his movements whenever he was in a fight; the fierceness in his expressions when in combat, the passion he held for the arts...

Heart thudding loudly she stared at her fiancé. Judging by the wide eyed look he was giving her he had received at least a part of these thoughts.

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Ranma, unable to stop himself, stared at his fiancée. He had thought every now and then that she may be interested but this? He had never thought... His martial arts were a love and a passion for him. Shampoo seemed to practice them solely because that is what her clan did. She took pride in her skills the same way any one took pride in something they were good at. Ukyo seemed to have taken it up to defend herself and to be a match for him. Kodachi – well, who knew what her twisted reasons for anything were.

But Akane had always held the same fierce devotion he had to competition and being better, to constantly improving and being the best of the best. She loved martial arts with a passion that rivalled his own, only she had not been given the opportunity to flourish as he had; he knew her father was always extremely cautious with her and he suspected she would blossom if she just knew how to.

Marriage had always been an abstract concept to him since he had always been alone with his father and most times not even exposed to other families. He had taken it as a live in the same house, eat the same food and protect her kind of deal.

Over time, after meeting Akane, that had changed, one bit at a time.

She could and wanted to protect herself, fiercely possessive of her independence and desire to prove her own skills, to not be seen as a damsel in distress. And then she had slowly turned into a friend and confidante, someone that supported him and had his back, someone who helped him and told him (though often through violence) when he was wrong. She was not whimpering, not helpless, not weak and giggly and expecting kisses and sudden marriage proposals. She was a tomboy – and she was perfect.

Sometimes he really didn't understand her moments of self-consciousness – yes, Ukyo's and Shampoo's food was better, but did she really think him so shallow? They couldn't hold a candle to her. And if she ever... He vaguely imagined Akane doing as Shampoo had, confessing her love, big doe eyes on him... he would not even think twice about anyone else.

He had never really thought about Shampoo that way anyway; whilst at first it had been kind of flattering she had proven herself a threat and real annoyance sooner rather than later and he now wished he had turned her down at the beginning of the entire escapade. And Ukyo – well, he wasn't screwed up sufficiently yet to want to start something with someone he thought of as both a boy and a sibling.

And even if he were shallow enough, did she not realise why exactly most of the boys at her school had been willing to be beaten into the ground once a day for even the slightest chance of a date with her? He had realised it the first time she had smiled at him on their first day at school. She was... nothing short of beautiful. She didn't need to turn up half undressed or with huge amounts of makeup on, she just would be who she was and it stunned every male in the vicinity.

_'Akane Tendo, would you... come on a date with me?'_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Akane flushed at Ranma's thoughts. It was... without this they probably would never have talked as frankly – well, they still weren't, really. It was just their own thoughts and the other could somehow listen in. But she had never known, never even had an inkling that Ranma held her in higher regard than any of his other fiancées.

_'Akane Tendo, would you... come on a date with me?'_

So when he asked, the answer was easy.

_'I would love to, Ranma.'_

The boy panicked.

_'You know I can't take you anywhere fancy or anything? I mean, I would like to, but...'_

_'Ranma- I don't mind. I would love to even simply sit on a roof with you somewhere and watch the stars. I just... I would love a date.'_

_'Tomorrow? After school?'_

_'Okay.'_

_'Err.. and... after all our discussions today... I mean... I can't, you know... control my dreams. No accusing me of being a pervert?'_

Akane grinned almost maliciously, setting Ranma's inbuilt danger sensors off.

_'Ahh... so you do have dreams of the tomboy with no sex appeal, too big hips and thighs and who is flat-chested?'_

Against his will, Ranma recalled the first time he saw her naked, coming into the bathroom, towel held between her breasts, baring most of her physique to his eye; he had tried not to look but he hadn't been able to stop himself entirely. Perfect, round bosom, slender waist curving out to her hips and moving in for toned thighs and silky skin, hair flowing over her shoulders. She had taken his breath away; no one else had ever done that. Thanks to his female form he knew a woman's body more clearly than most men ever would but... for some reason, Akane's was different; she was... extremely attractive. His other fiancées had certainly never caused him to have these thoughts.

He choked, knowing he'd projected his thoughts clearly.

_'Well... I wouldn't say no... sex appeal... you are... you know?'_

Akane blushed.

_'Were you disappointed that time with your mum when you needed to prove your manliness and I was wearing a swimsuit?'_

Hesitantly, Ranma chuckled. He could still remember the way his stomach had dropped when there had not been silky smooth skin and bare flesh but instead a swimsuit. He had been very disappointed. Akane reached out to him again, shyly looking up at him.

_'I- I don't mind, you know. You thinking about me... in that way. It's... strangely flattering? I... think you are very attractive too, you know. So... same no pervert rule goes for me, okay?'_

_'You don't mind? But I thought you'd...'_

Akane shrugged, uncertain and self-conscious. It was an odd thing and she wasn't entirely sure if she, herself, understood.

_'You thought I'd flip? Yeah. I don't like boys because they leer and gawp and look at you as though you're an object. I always felt dirty. With you... it's different... Sorry, this isn't coming out right, but I am not even sure what I think.'_

Akane sighed, before attempting again to explain her thoughts on this, blushing as her eyes met Ranma's.

_'What I mean is that it is flattering you have... are thinking of my body... Shampoo has been unashamed about her nudity and around you, hugging you whilst naked even. Ukyo whilst not lacking inhibitions like Shampoo is incredibly beautiful too. As you have pointed out your own female form is more attractive than mine. I just... it is kind of nice to know that despite all that it's me you're thinking of, if that makes sense. You actually... desire me and that is flattering whereas it wouldn't be with anyone else.'_

Blushing at her words, Ranma sent her a wry smile before thinking in a moment of bravery.

_'Trust me, Akane, I have never thought about my body the way I have about yours...'_

Heart pounding, cheeks flushed, Akane looked at Ranma in both gratitude for the reassurance as well embarrassment at contemplating his actual thoughts on the matter.

"Shall we go to bed?"

"Ye-", clearing his throat, Ranma tried again. "Yes. I think that would be best. ... I'll see you tomorrow, Akane?"

_'Good to know our verbal communication is just as stilted and awkward as it used to be and full of ways to misinterpret it.'_

Ranma grinned at her, relieved at the levity remaining between them.

_'So, any ideas on how to stop this?'_, Akane continued.

_'No, not as yet. I am not sure whether or not to consult our family or Cologne. They may know something but chances are it's going to get spun into something grander than it is and we will come to at the altar.'_

_'I know. It's moments like these that I wish Dr. Tofu was still here.'_

_'So do I. Now, I haven't forgotten about my promise, but how about we go on our date tomorrow first? That way, if it does not go well or – surprise, surprise – magically gets interrupted by either my other fiancées or your wannabe fiancés, you get to beat me up the next day. Free of charge.'_

Akane laughed.

_'Sounds perfect, Ranma.'_

Both stopped in front of their respective rooms, hesitating, uncertain about the correct protocol for this.

_'Good night, Ranma.'_

_'Good night, Akane.'_

Smiling happily, Akane changed into her pyjamas, feeling optimistic about hers and Ranma's progress for the first time in a week. She even laughed when Ranma sent her a thought, which was obviously him being cheeky.

_'Sweet Dreams.'_

Life, even now, in all its strange complications and twists, was good. For once it was not one step forward, two steps back, but rather three steps forward, none back.

She couldn't help but feel excited about what the morning would bring. This new closeness to Ranma was making her ... oddly happy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, that's it for now. More over the next few days ;)


	2. Sharing is Caring

Hey everyone!

Here's the second chapter. Thanks again to **pursemonger** for beta reading this and all your help!

**Warning:** Swearing, sexual tension and naughty dreams.

And thanks to all my reviewers:

**Flameraven1:** Thank you for your review. I would love to address your comment but it might spoil this chapters, so I'll refrain. Let me know what you think!

**BlooTaco**: Thank you for your review! Please let me know what you thought of this one. I am afraid, I did not, apparently have a terribly original idea and would greatly recommend MZephyr (which was recommended to me in turn) for a similar take on mind reading :) Let me know what you think of this chapter.

**The Keeper of the Worlds: **Thank you for your review. Hope you'll enjoy this chapter too! And no, no Ryoga linkage. Let me know what you think!

**KaikiH**: Thank you for your review and for the criticism. I do have trouble contracting but I now have a beta so where I've missed it, there's now double the chance of it having been picked up by **pursemonger**. Please do let me know what you thought of this chapter!

**Richard Ryley**: Thank you for your review and for recommending MZephyr to me. I was reading for two days straight but loved it! Well, this chapter will be dealing with a little bit of everything. Please let me know what you thought after it, but Ukyo, Shampoo and Ryoga will all turn up.

: Thank you for your review. Let me know what you thought of this chapter!

**caia-chan: **Yay, thank you for your review. Hopefully you'll enjoy the next chapter – please let me know what you think!

**BobV**: Thank you for your review. Here's another chapter, let me know what you think. Akane and Ranma will be learning a bit more about how this works *grin*.

**YouROCKharder**: Thank you for your review. Ironically enough, I was unaware that this was not a new idea but have now read a couple of stories along a similar pattern, admittedly. Hope you enjoy this coming chapter, let me know what you thought!

**kana**: Thank you for your review and apologies for the delay. I was busy reading stories myself. Hope you'll enjoy this chapter! Let me know what you think.

**Jdcocoagirl**: Thank you for your review. I'm glad you're enjoying it. Please leave me a review and let me know what you think of this chapter!

**serenityselena**: Thank you for your review. I hope you enjoy this latest chapter as much as the first one – please let me know what you think.

**jabber185**: Thank you very much for your review. I am glad you're enjoying it. Hopefully the next chapter will be a bit more in depth – please continue letting me know what you think!

**linkgold64**: Thank you for both your reviews. I'm glad to see you're enjoying the story. I have not got an outline, so I can't confirm how many chapters there will be all in all, I'm afraid, but hope you enjoy this nonetheless. Here's the next chapter, please let me know what you think.

**WalkersCrown**: Thank you for your review and I'm glad you like it so far. Hopefully this next chapter will live up to your expectations. Let me know what you think!

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_'__Ah- Akane!'_

Heart pounding, Akane shot up out of her bed. What had that been? Tired and sleepy, she rubbed her eyes and tried to get her brain working again.

_'__God, I need a cold shower!'_

There was that voice again. Unable to think, Akane repeated the thought.

_'__Cold shower?'_

The footsteps she'd vaguely heard in the hall suddenly paused.

_'__Akane... err, are you awake?'_

Ranma? Suddenly yesterday's memories flooded back.

_'__Oh, sorry Ranma. Yes, I am still quite sleepy and hadn't quite woken up yet. Did you have another nightmare?'_

A pause.

_'__Yes, nightmare, exactly. Right- so... I'll be going to the bath to get ready now. See ya later, Akane!'_

Well, that was odd. Even odder than normal and that was saying something. Besides, why would he want to have a cold shower anyway? He hated turning into a girl unless it suited his own purposes so why a col-oh... OH!

Blushing heavily, Akane crawled back into bed. This was not something she should be thinking about especially when Ranma could pick up on her thoughts.

It was remarkably hard to reign her thoughts back in but once she finally remembered the maths test they were having on Friday she found something else to occupy her mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dousing himself with cold water, Ranma shuddered as he turned female. God, this was screwed up. To stop his arousal he had to use cold water –well, the other option was not really a possibility with Akane awake and sharing his thoughts; he had embarrassed himself sufficiently already. And with the cold water he turned into a shapely, female body – similar to the one that had brought about his feelings in the first place. He didn't need a degree in psychology to know that was screwed up.

Shaking off the errant thoughts he quickly jumped into the hot water, trying to think of how to face Akane at breakfast now that she had realised what he had been dreaming about – or rather, who.

Sighing, Ranma ducked his head under water, trying to clear his thoughts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The extent of their predicament finally realised, Akane groaned. Neither Ranma nor herself would be able to have any thoughts to themselves. One of his half-naked fiancées would eventually drape herself over him or kiss him. And if he had even an errant thought about liking it, Akane could admit to herself that she would probably turn violent rather quickly.

They would be unable to look or interact with one another, for fear of having stray thoughts about kisses – or more! It had been kind of nice to talk openly but at the same time she didn't want to share her every thought and impulse with him. God, she'd scare him off. This was so messed up - once again. When had life taken such a turn for them? Who else had to deal with what they had to on a daily basis?

Ranma and herself had been in mortal peril more often than not, had close shaves and barely managed to escape with their lives intact only to tumble headfirst into the next disaster. When had their lives turned into this mess?

_'__Why can't life ever be normal?'_

_'__Cause that'd be boring, 'kane. 'Sides, I don't think you've got much to complain about. I was the only one of us to embarrass myself this morning.'_

_'__True.'_

_'__Yea- HEY!'_

Akane chuckled as she started to change into her school uniform, absentmindedly turning off her alarm.

_'__So... what was your dream about?'_

The thought had been intended to shut Ranma up and make him grumble in embarrassment; instead however she found an unusually intense emotion well up inside her and suddenly saw a short flicker of an image in his mind even though he violently tried to suppress it.

She realised it was herself, naked, lying beneath Ranma as his hand slowly caressed her body and hers arched up to meet his touch, breathlessly moaning his name with a fine sheet of sweat covered her body.

Flushing, Akane stumbled, surprised not only at the intensity of the emotion she'd felt from Ranma but also at the image itself. If... god, she had expected his dreams to be about the... act itself but, proving her wrong again, his image had been almost sweet in his desire for her, desire for her pleasure and to see her writhing beneath him.

_'__Aye, Akane! I didn't mean for you- I mean- You weren't meant to- Argh! I'm sorry, alright? I never meant for you to see that. You can hit me all you want. I didn't mean to ... you know. ... I really __am__ sorry.'_

Akane ignored her fiancé, hoping to get her own thoughts on the matter straightened out before she had to join her family for breakfast.

_'__Akane? C'mmon, talk to me. Please...'_

_'__Why can't he ever...!'_

Fuming, Akane opened the door and stepped right in front of Ranma, her finger pushing against his chest.

"You! Argh! You are infuriating, you know that! Give me a moment, will you! I am not here to entertain-"

Something was off. Ranma was furiously blushing and only occasionally stealing glances her way before looking the other way.

_'__Don't look, don't look, don't look! Huh, I think they have become bigger in the last two years... Fuck! I'm not looking! Don't look!'_

Frowning, Akane looked at herself before realising she had only managed to put on her bra and panties before storming out of her room in a rage.

Squeaking she crossed her arms in front of her chest and ran back into her room.

_'__Well, that could've gone better...'_

Red-faced Akane sank down onto the floor, hiding her face in her hands.

_'__Y'know, Akane, I didn't really see anything...'_

_'__Liar! I heard your thoughts about them being bigger now!'_

_'__Well, I couldn't help it. You were angry, everyone knows you don't take your eyes off you when you're angry. I have been buried beneath the table too often to repeat that mistake!' _

_'__You should have told me the moment you noticed!'_

_'__What, along the lines of hey Akane, you forgot to put your shirt on and I can see your boobs? Yeah, you would have hit me into the ground. Nah, thanks.'_

Akane groaned. She would have, too.

_'__Can't we call it quits? We both managed to thoroughly embarrass ourselves this morning; can't we just call it quits?'_

Sighing, Akane looked down at herself, hesitant to voice her next question but similarly unable to stop the thought before it reached him.

_'__You said... they were bigger. Do you prefer them bigger?'_

Akane blushed heavily at her question, staring at her empty room whilst awaiting Ranma's reply.

_'__That's not what I meant... I just was saying that you, you know... were getting a more womanly figure. Curves, b-... boobs, everything, you know? I mean, compared to two years ago... And that's not a bad thing, I think.'_

She could almost hear him clearing his throat nervously and smiled despite herself. So she was becoming curvier, huh? She hadn't noticed... Carefully looking at the mirror she studied herself and tried to recall what she had looked like two years ago.

_'__Could you... y'know, not think that hard about yourself __naked__ while I am in the middle of having breakfast with your DAD!' _

She blushed, before bursting out into laughter. Ranma was right. They had both managed to make fools of themselves; it was time to call it quits.

Shaking her head at her own behaviour, she quickly pulled on her school uniform and followed her fiancé downstairs to the breakfast table.

Both managed to exchange weak grins and not blush before focussing on breakfast.

On their way to school, both teenagers nonchalantly walked beside each other. Ranma broke the silence first.

"I am sorry about... this morning, you know?"

"So am I. Especially the breakfast-thing. Sorry again."

"'S okay. I figured you hadn't realised yet that if you think really hard about something you end up projecting it to me. So... are we still good for after school?"

Akane blushed prettily, shyly looking up at him and nodding.

"AIYA! AIREN!"

_'__Ah, fuck! Typical. How does she even know when we leave? I mean, we're really early this time so how does she...!'_

Akane sighed, realisation settling in at the same time as Ranma came to the conclusion she'd reached. Nabiki.

_'__Akane, your sister is a menace!'_

The next moment Ranma had his arms full of Shampoo – she'd abandoned her bicycle and jumped straight into his arms. Out of reflex he caught her safely before quickly removing his hands. As always, Shampoo ignored all his signals and snuggled into him. He could feel her breasts and for a moment he felt the usual, male impulse to blush before his anger took over again.

"Shampoo. Good morning to you too."

Akane giggled behind him at his ironic tone and he flashed her a quick smile – which Shampoo unfortunately picked up on.

"Why Airen smiling at tomboy when he have real woman?"

Akane's smile froze and Ranma felt his heart speed up. This was not going to end well.

"Shampoo", carefully unwinding her arms from his neck so as to not injure her, he pushed the Amazon away from him, cautiously avoiding any areas that would get him beat up by Akane.

"I'm still not happy with you. You came to what you thought was a wedding, destroyed the house, gave us what I can only assume where bombs as wedding gifts and then had the gall to not even apologise to the Tendos, a family that has housed me over the last two years and has always paid all the damages you have done to their property out of their own pocket. You think this sort of behaviour endears you to me? Think again!"

Ranma tried to look stern.

_'__Soul of ice, soul of ice, soul of ice.'_

Predictably, Shampoo advanced on him, pushing her chest out and her eyes widening that fraction to make her seem innocent and helpless as she looked up at him.

"Wo ai ni, Airen."

Akane, finally able to move again after having heard Ranma's tirade against Shampoo, angrily pushed the Amazon away, knowing Ranma was having difficulty resisting being nice to girls – well, her being the notable exception.

"Leave Ranma alone, Shampoo. And remember that it will be a long time before you are welcome back at the Tendo Dojo."

Blue eyes turned to her, glaring.

"Kitchen wrecker no has say where Shampoo go!"

"We'll see about that."

Akane was fuming by now and pulled Ranma along. "Come now or we will be late for school."

_'__God, I hate Shampoo!'_

A pause from her fiancé.

_'__Do you really?'_

Akane sighed, rolling her eyes as she sped up further, hoping to make it in time for her first class.

_'__Sort of. Ask me once I have cooled down and I will probably confess to not really hating her. I am not sure I actually hate anyone. I just – I guess, I simply don't understand her. She's got everything I have ever wanted – she is a fantastic cook, beautiful, charming, honest about her feelings and a superb martial artist. I mean, she lived in a clan full of strong woman, focussed on being the best at the martial arts. How can someone so sure of themselves suddenly let everything drop because she was defeated? Why is she not trying to be stronger and beat you? Instead she decided she loves you because that's what her clan wants from her. I ... I just don't understand. I don't understand why she would bow down and take it instead of fighting it. She is everything I ever wanted to be and then she just stops fighting. It makes no sense!'_

Akane grumbled as they quickly moved forward through the streets of Nerima, making it to the gates just as the warning bell rung.

"Huh. And here I thought you were just jealous..."

Akane's glare made him shut up quickly as they ran towards their classroom and found their seats with seconds to spare still.

_'__I am glad that Kuno is finally at University and not bothering us that much anymore. He would have made us late.'_

Ranma chuckled and both gave each other tentative smiles, glad that their first encounter with one of his fiancées had gone relatively smoothly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Over the course of the day, Akane found herself helping Ranma when he encountered problems in maths and physics, same as he helped her in geography and history, showing her pictures of places he'd seen on his extensive travels to bring the class a bit more to life.

By the time lunch time came around, both had stayed not only awake but also been attentive students. A rare occurrence as everyone who knew Ranma could attest to.

"Akane?"

Her head shot up and she looked at Ukyo. The okonomiyaki chef stood in front of her, looking her firmly in the eyes.

_'__A challenge?'_ Akane paused.

Ranma's head shot up from across the courtyard and she didn't need to read his thoughts to know that he was about to come over and defend her. A minute shake of her head had him pausing.

_'__You sure?'_

_'__I'll call you if I can't handle it.'_

Turning back to Ukyo, she showed her to an empty classroom and sat down on one of the tables, staring at Ranma's other fiancée – and the only one [rival] she'd ever had something approaching to friendship with.

"So, Ukyo... what's this about?"

The other girl stared at her, before bowing slightly to Akane's surprise.

"I am sorry, you know. For disrupting your wedding. I... thought that you were both just part of another plot..."

Akane half-smiled at Ukyo. It had stung that she had been part of the people destroying what was intended as her perfect day. They had a lot of disagreements – always over Ranma – but they had also become good friends, chatting about martial arts, clothes and boys (though both were careful to never allude directly to Ranma himself for fear of starting a fight between them). It was a fragile relationship at the best of times, especially so when moments such as the engagement ring came up, but Ukyo was still one of only a small number of girls that Akane could actually talk to.

"Thank you. I know why you did it; it's the one thing that we've always fought about and the one time where we haven't been friends. Ranma. I just... I thought..." Akane laughed, feeling the sob building at the back of her throat and the pressure of tears behind her eyes. "For some stupid reason I thought that if you did come, it would be as my friend. I never thought..."

Akane wiped away the tears before they could fall. Ukyo had apologised and she was not someone to bear a grudge once someone had genuinely uttered their regret. Being quite impulsive herself it would be rather hypocritical of her otherwise.

"I accept your apology and I apologise for not informing you in person. Everything just happened so fast."

The girl nodded, before pausing, hesitating to ask the next question.

"I – Did you agree to the wedding?"

Akane sighed, looking at the floor before meeting Ukyo's eyes, deciding she needed honesty above all else.

"My dad said there was Nannichuan water for Ranma to cure his curse if we both decided to go ahead with the marriage."

Grey eyes sharpened on the girl in front of her as Ukyo quietly asserted.

"That's not an answer."

Akane's head tilted sideways as she looked at the other girl.

"No. No, you're right. It's not. But it's all you are going to get."

"So... Where does that leave us?"

"I... have few female friends, and none that like martial arts. You are one of the few girls I can talk to that understands me. I would like to keep that. I like you and you are a fantastic friend as long as we avoid anything Ranma-related."

Ukyo seemed to pause but finally nodded and with a smile Akane hopped off her table to hug the other girl.

"Thanks, I've missed you."

Smiling, both girls exited the room to find themselves confronted with an anxious Ranma. Akane noticed immediately him scanning her for injuries before his eyes locked on hers, asking a silent question.

_'__I'm okay. Just girl talk.'_

He nodded, relieved, and walked back to Daisuke and Hiroshi, hoping to enjoy what was left of his lunch now that he didn't need to worry about her getting hurt.

"WHAT was THAT?", Ukyo stared after Ranma. She had watched him as he looked at Akane, she'd nodded and then he'd left – neither having said a word.

Akane winced.

"He was just checking if we were okay, I think."

Ukyo's eye brow lifted of her own volition.

"Nah-uh. He was checking if YOU were okay. But that's not it – you – he knew what you were saying without you having to say a word! Damn girl! When did that happen?"

Akane stuttered, looking at Ukyo's upset face as she stared at Ranma's quickly retreating figure.

"What do you mean?"

Turning back to her, Ukyo frowned.

"What do you mean what do I mean? I mean, everyone knew that if you were in danger, Ranma would come running. Everyone knew that Ranma would kill anyone who wanted to date you or hurt you. We sort of always figured it's because you were weaker than us; I mean, you were always at each other's throats and shouting or insulting each other. And yet you risked your life for one another when it came down to it, but all of us sort of thought that Ranma thought of you as a sister or at least wasn't attracted to you... and yet, here you are. Not fighting and communicating without even needing to say words. You read about that sort of stuff in Shojo mangas. I... damnit, I thought I still had a chance with Ran-chan."

Akane blushed. Oh dear, what a way to misunderstand.

"It's not like that, Ukyo. I mean, I don't know how he feels about you – you'll have to talk to him about that. But Ranma and I haven't... I... we'regoingonadatetonight", Akane finally confessed.

Ukyo stared, stunned. A date?

"Date? But... he has never invited anyone on a date... Has he... I- Do you...?"

Akane's hand landed on Ukyo's shoulder, sympathetic. She would hate to lose a good friend over this.

"I think you deserve some honesty from me... I don't know what Ranma and I are, I'm not sure he knows either. What I do know is that I am willing to find out. We all keep being pushed into people and roles that we didn't decide for ourselves. I want to find out if... there can be an us. I don't know anything beyond that."

Ukyo nodded after a moment.

"You know that I won't let go of him without a fight?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

Both nodded at each other in perfect understanding before each going their way.

Ranma's concerned eyes met hers over the school yard.

_'__Your thoughts were all jumbled, I couldn't understand anything. What did she say? Are you okay?'_

She noticed his secondary thought about her red eyes when she'd come out of the room with Ukyo; obviously he wasn't quite willing to push their tentative truce that far yet.

_'__I told her about our date.'_

_'__WHAT? Are you insane? We'll never get rid of them now! She'll tell Nabiki and Shampoo and everyone will know!'_

_'__I don't think so.'_

_'__Oh, you don't think so! It would've been nice if you could have talked to me about it so at least I was not preparing a nice date away from other people when you are inviting all the idiots in Nerima along!'_

_'__You are?'_

_'__Huh?'_

_'__I... didn't realise you'd actually plan it that much.'_

Ranma blushed slightly.

_'__I told you, it's nothing special.'_

Once more, his breath caught in his chest as she sent him one of her brilliant smiles, the ones that seemed to light up her entire face and made his heart race. Time stood still.

_'__Thank you, Ranma.'_

He grumbled slightly.

_''__S okay. I'll figure out a way to ditch them...'_

Her smile widened and Ranma didn't refocus on his actual surroundings until Daisuke hit him on the shoulder.

"What'cha smiling for like a fool?"

"Ah", Hiroshi smirked, elbowing his friend. "I know why. Look over there."

Three pairs of eyes were directly on Akane, who was laughing with her friends, face lit up and eyes sparkling. Unwillingly, Ranma found his eyes once again intent on his fiancée, heart drumming in his chest, unable to tear his eyes away as his eyes softened, forgetting his best friends.

_'__She really is beautiful...'_

He realised his mistake the moment her head snapped around, eyes wide and meeting his. Only an instant later her cheeks reddened and she ducked her head, hair obscuring her face slightly as she shyly looked across to him.

_'__Thank you...'_

Daisuke and Hiroshiwatched as Ranma nodded at his fiancée before turning back to them.

"So, Saotome, what's up with you and Akane?"

"Ah... Nothing, nothing at all."

"Pfff, you can tell that to your grandmother. So... how far have you gotten with Akane. You were gone for quite some time – did you, y'know...?"

Ranma blushed, half in embarrassment, half in anger.

"It's not that way! I told you guys before, lay off that topic!"

"But, mate, you can't leave us hanging like that! Akane is like _the _hottest girl at school! Tell me you've at least seen her naked!"

Before he could help it, he remembered Akane involuntarily sending him a look at herself in the mirror this morning. He blushed furiously and wouldn't make eye contact with his friends.

"You have! You dog, you! So... what's she like?"

Ranma smiled wryly. Caught.

"Find your own girlfriends to fawn over."

He realised the moment he said it what a mistake he'd made. Not only had he indirectly admitted to seeing her naked but he'd also made one much more fatalistic mistake. Calling her his fiancée would've been fine, calling her a girl would've been acceptable – but girlfriend? He'd never used that term for her – or anyone else – and he was sooo dead.

Both Hiroshi and Daisuke's mouths were wide open as they stared at him.

"Would you believe me if I said I didn't mean anything by it?"

Almost in unison, they shook their heads, still staring.

"It's nothing, alright! I just meant that she's a girl and a friend despite being a tomboy."

"Nah-uh. You said you saw her naked – how did you see her naked? I mean, did you- did she...?"

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Hiroshi, NOW."

Ranma could feel the anger, protectiveness and jealousy rising within him as he glared at his best friend.

_'__Akane is MY fiancée!'_

Both backed down quickly and changed the topic instead to the latest gossip about Kuno's misadventures at University.

_'__You're very sweet when you don't open your mouth, you know?'_

_'__Ha-ha. Laugh it up, tomboy.'_

_'__No, seriously. I was kidding, kind of, but I... it makes me very happy to know that's the way you think about me.'_

_'__... you're welcome...'_

From across the courtyard Akane sent him another smile just as the bell rang and they were back inside for more classes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ranma was uncharacteristically nervous. The end of school was fast approaching and that meant his date with Akane was nearing. He really, really didn't want to mess this one up.

He gulped, sending another cautious glance at his fiancée who returned his gaze with a reassuring smile – which only made him feel more nervous. If anything went wrong, then...

_'__Relax, Ranma. Did you really think I'd freak if something went awry?'_

He paused – he really shouldn't think this would only dig him in deeper but he couldn't control his thoughts.

_'__Yes.' _

_'__You're putting everything on one date. Simply going by our track record so far, something is bound to go wrong. It doesn't mean we can't go on a second or third date, until we get it right. I don't expect perfection.'_

'_It doesn't and you don't? I thought... y'know... that this had to be perfect or that was it. No second chances. You sure?'_

_'__Of course I'm sure. Now relax for goodness sake. You're making ME nervous!'_

Ranma grinned and focused back on what the teacher was saying. This whole mind reading thing definitely had its perks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Right, 'kane, it's this way."

Having waved goodbye to their friends, Ranma and Akane were trying to casually walk down the street together, pretending they weren't on their way to a date.

"Soo..."

_'__What do you talk about when you have been engaged to a girl for two years but are only just going on your first date?'_

Akane smiled softly.

_'__Dunno. Nice weather?'_

Ranma chuckled.

_'__So, dinner and a movie sound good?'_

Akane grinned at the nervous tone in his voice and the nonchalant expression on his face she knew was faked.

"Sounds fabulous."

"So... have you ever had a boyfriend before?", genuinely curious, Ranma stared at her only to see Akane roll her eyes.

_'__You do know that on the first date you really, really shouldn't be talking about ex-boyfriends or girlfriends.'_

_'__Wow, ex-girlfriends, huh?'_

Slapping his arm, Akane gave him a short glare before laughing slightly.

_'__Pervert. YOUR ex-girlfriends. And unless the boyfriend I had when I was six counts, then no – no boyfriends.'_

Ranma looked confused.

_'__When you were SIX?'_

_'__Well, he was cute and he did know how to perform this really complicated kata. Don't worry, I dumped him as soon as he'd finished teaching me.'_

_'__Huh, maybe I shouldn't start teaching you. It looks as though you're likely to dump me once you've learned all my techniques.'_

_'__Honestly. That should just encourage you to keep improving yourself so that I will be with you for-'_

Akane abruptly cut of her thoughts, blushing furiously as she realised what she'd been about to share. To her surprise, Ranma's voice in his head was remarkably soft as he finished the sentence for her.

_'__for the rest of our lives...? Have you ever, y'know... thought about it? What it'd be like?'_

Akane smiled slightly. They were breaking so many first-date rules yet she couldn't bring herself to care. Ranma was blushing and sending her casual glances.

_'__Yes, I have. I... after the match with the 'Golden Pair', I ... started thinking what it would be like if this wasn't just something our parents forced on us.'_

_'__And, err, what did you think?'_

_'__I thought that I would probably enjoy a couple of dates before any proposals. Though admittedly with the amount of adventures we've been on, we at least already know how far we are willing to go for one another.'_

Ranma laughed and Akane couldn't help but join.

_'__We have been through a lot together. Can't help but wonder though how to make you a less attractive kidnappee.'_

_'__Is that even a word? Besides, I don't get kidnapped __that__ often!'_

_'__Often enough.'_

Akane paused, remembering yesterday morning – his need to check on her, her safety, worrying over her. Her anger dissipated as quickly as it had come.

_'__I don't mean to make you worry, y'know.'_

_'__... I know.'_

_'__And I think you just said I was attractive.'_

Ranma chuckled at the mischievous expression on her face, before quieting down again, remembering what he'd been meaning to tell her.

_'__Sorry we can't dress up for our first date... it's just, if Shampoo or Kodachi, my parents, your dad, Nabiki or whoever else usually deigns to interrupt us, sees us, I want to have plausible deniability.'_

_'__... Just so you know, it's okay. I don't really mind. Don't get me wrong, I like dressing up as much as the next girl, but in this case it would also mean losing out on my date with you – I much prefer the date over dressing up.'_

_'__I'll take that as a compliment.'_

_'__You should.'_

"I think this must be a new record for not insulting one another."

Ranma lips quirked into a smile at Akane's words, unable to help himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So... this is it..."

Nervously, Ranma wiped his hands on his trousers, gesturing to the restaurant in front of them. Akane chanced a glance at him and it took her a moment to realise he was holding his hand out to her, blushing.

Just like the last time, Akane grasped his hand, smiling happily as he led her into the restaurant.

"Private Room for two, please. It's for Saotome."

_'__Ranma! Can we... can you affo-'_

_'__Now, now, 'kane. That's not very nice of you. I am inviting you to dinner. You are not meant to look at prices – just enjoy. At least that much I do know.'_

Akane blushed slightly at her faux-pas, though Ranma's grin said he didn't care – it was just an opportunity to tease her back.

They followed the waitress through a hallway until they arrived in one of the rooms. Both stepped through, blushing slightly at the sudden proximity and lack of interference they had half-expected.

_'__... Saotome...'_

_'__Woah, what did I do wrong?'_

At her confused look, Ranma started feeling puzzled himself. He could have sworn she was angry. Why else the last name...?

_'__You always call me Ranma, Akane. Now, I think if you start calling me by my last name it's safe to assume that I have done something horribly wrong...'_

Akane blushed, sitting down opposite of him, fiddling with the hem of her dress and avoiding eye contact.

"It's nothing..."

"Nah-uh. How am I meant to enjoy this da-date if I keep thinking you're mad?"

_'__... When you came into the restaurant, the reservation... it was for Saotome...'_

Ranma's voice was dry when he replied out loud after noticing that she was not continuing her thoughts.

"Well, that is my name after all."

A pause. Akane sent him a shy glance before answering him in her thoughts.

_'__I know... it's just... I think they thought I was Akane Saotome.'_

Akane wasn't sure how she felt about that. A part of her was still testing out which last name suited best, though the thought of marriage was still sort of far off. Even just thinking the name 'Akane Saotome' caused her heart to flutter and her face to flush. It would... imply a certain sense of mutual ownership that she wasn't sure she was comfortable with just yet.

Ranma's own eyes widened at the realisation of what she'd been going on about. Akane Saotome? His heart rate increased and he blushed as he realised he wouldn't exactly mind that. Akane was right – they had been through so many adventures together, there was a certain security in knowing she not only accepted his curse fully but she was willing to do the most stupid, insane things to rescue him (such as dying).

But he knew as well as she did that they hadn't even gone on one date yet. He needed to lighten the mood.

_'__Huh. Well, sounds better than Ranma Tendo any day though.'_

Akane snorted before clapping a hand to her mouth, trying to stifle the giggles. Ranma felt his own lips twitch in response.

For a moment they looked at each other and then broke into laughter.

_'__Yeah, we'll be alright.', _Ranma thought, trying desperately to stop laughing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The waitress returned looking puzzled and the chef leaned over the counter.

"Kimiko, what is it?"

"Well... I just brought this young couple to room 12... And I could've sworn they weren't getting along as it was deadly quiet – you know, one of those Omiai or arranged marriages... And then they suddenly started laughing out of the blue. It was... really eerie."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They should have known something would go wrong. Inevitably, something always did. Still, Ranma and Akane had been enjoying a simple dinner when suddenly someone burst in, breaking down the door.

"Take your hands off Akane!"

It was Ryoga, enraged and umbrella at the ready. Both Akane and Ranma blinked in confusion, sitting at opposite ends of the table and certainly not touching.

"Why, Ryoga, how nice of you to join us."

Smirking slightly, Ranma gestured to the seat between them as if to invite Ryoga to sit with them – which made him pause momentarily before continuing his rant.

"You dishonourable pervert, abusing Akane's trust like this."

Akane frowned, feeling out of the loop.

_'__Any idea what he's on about?'_

_'__Not a clue. Slightly ironic, though'_

He didn't notice Akane's puzzled glance at his words, all his focus on his rival.

"Funny, you talking about lacking honour, being a pervert and abusing Akane's trust, eh, Pigboy?"

Ranma felt the same quiet rage he always felt when he saw Ryoga and remembered him cuddling into Akane's bosom only moments after he himself had sworn on his honour to keep quiet about the transformation.

He could still clearly remember when he tried to get P-chan back that first night and Akane thought him – him! – a pervert for it. Gritting his teeth, Ranma glared at his rival not noticing how Akane was staring at Ryoga in shock.

"How about we fight this out, man to man, here and now!"

_'__P-Chan...?'_

Akane's voice echoed softly through Ranma's head but before he could reply to either her or Ryoga, both males found their focus switched entirely to Akane, as she stared at Ryoga in betrayal and shock.

"Oh god... Are you P-Chan?"

Akane watched, aghast when Ryoga paused before his denial – before she could stop herself she threw her glass of cold water at him. It took only an instant and a unbearably familiar, black pig appeared in front of her in the midst of clothes. Her reflexes weren't quick enough, shock holding her back but Ranma's hand flashed out faster than she could see and held the pig up to her for judgement – or as an apology, she wasn't sure.

'_Ranma... I-He...'_

She watched her fiancé's face twist into a grimace.

_'__I am so sorry, Akane. I never meant for you to find out like this.'_

Akane gasped slightly, feeling tears in her eyes. She ignored the pig wildly looking between her and Ranma due to the nonverbal communication taking place between them.

_'__Would you... Would you ever have told me?'_

The betrayal stung more than she liked to admit, heart aching, knowing Ranma had known about this the entire time, had known she was sleeping with a boy her age in bed – undressing with a boy watching her... Suddenly, her sadness turned into anger – unfathomably strong fury rose within her as she stared at the black pig who had betrayed her, dishonoured her.

"Ryoga, you are going to die."

The words shook her even as she said them and there was that horrible realisation that at this very moment, she would not be able to stop if she started beating him. Akane breathed in deeply, controlling herself, before grabbing the pig out of Ranma's unresisting hands.

"I suggest you leave right this second and don't ever dare to step into my sight again or I will not hesitate to kill you. YOU have dishonoured me. YOU have betrayed me. Was it fun, hm? Watching me undress at night? Sleeping in my bed? Watching me? Listening to me when I told you my innermost thoughts? Was it fun, I ask you!"

Her hands were squeezing the squealing pig before throwing it through the hole in the door he'd come in from, putting all her force behind it.

Hands clenching she stared at his backpack and his clothes. She gritted her teeth, sparing Ranma only a small glance.

Ryoga's betrayal hurt, it did, but Ranma's... She held back a sob.

"I believe our date is over."

And with that she left the restaurant, making her way home – alone. She could feel the tears running down her cheeks as she sought shelter beneath one of the bridges. Just some... peace and quiet. Away from everyone – away from Ranma reading her mind.

It hurt, god, did it hurt.

Ryoga... she'd thought he was so nice – lost boy and almost sweet in his concern for her. It was only now she realised he'd never paid her any particular attention until she'd adopted P-Chan the first time. To her surprise, Akane found herself bend over, vomiting.

He had... he'd violated her. He had seen her naked, had his face between her breasts, slept in her bed... hell, she'd come damned close to having baths with him! Oh god, dear god. Akane shivered, violently, feeling repulsed and stripped bare. She'd told P-chan her thoughts, her feelings and he'd... god, his arguments with Ranma made so much more sense suddenly.

The first, heaving sob made it past her throat as she cowered down into the shadow of the bridge, trying to not attract attention. She'd loved p-chan. He'd been her cute little pet... she'd never understood why Ranma was always beating him up, trying to get it away from her. Now it all made sense – he'd been trying to protect her in some ways.

The betrayal from Ranma still hurt, though. She knew how much he valued [his] honour – but what about her honour? The very thing Ryoga had taken from her with his actions. She'd... she'd slept with that _thing_. Her mind all to easily recalled instances where Ranma had gone out of his way to keep Ryoga's identity a secret from her even though it would've been easy for him to simply let him drop and turn into p-chan in front of her eyes...

God, how dumb could she be? The ice rink, the cold water – P-Chan's disappearance, Ryoga's reappearance with the 'Charlotte' collar on his neck... How had she not noticed?

The next moment her tears turned into anger once more and she punched the wall. She had been right the first time around – boys were dishonourable, foul creatures who cared for nothing beyond themselves. To them it didn't matter what they'd done to her – only their own stupid rivalry and words.

Well, Ranma could go out with one of the other fiancées – Hell, Ukyo could have him if she still wanted the dishonest bastard! She was so over him, Akane reaffirmed to herself, wiping away stray, traitorous tears that tried to suggest otherwise.

And P-Chan... P-Chan was going down, next time she saw him. Hopping back up onto the street she set a course for home before pausing. Her family... surely they wouldn't have known, right? The sick feeling in her stomach intensified. God, please, no.

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Review, please :)


	3. Judgment Day

Thank you very much for all the encouragement and analysis! Short, thanks for all your reviews. Sorry it took so long for this chapter but it needed the entire last section changed – thanks to my beta reader **pursemonger** for catching that!

Reviewers:

**WalkersCrown: **Hi, thanks for reviewing again. Hopefully this one will match your expectations! Please continue letting me know what you thought!

**rancheesan: **Well, thank you (for favoriting me) and thank you again for the review. I am glad you are enjoying this story, hopefully you'll enjoy the next chapter. I'm afraid Ranma won't have it all that easy, but read and enjoy. Please keep reviewing!

**XxkanaxX: **I'm glad. Hope you're enjoying the following chapter just as much as the previous ones. Thank you for your review – please keep reviewing. By the way, if the second (guest) review is not yours, my apologies for the PM I sent you ;-)

**serenityselena: **Thank you for your review. I'll certainly hope they'll be stronger and it's one less thing the rivals/fiancées can use against them. So hope you enjoy the coming chapter and please let me know what you think!

**nikichan**: Thank you for your review. Let me know what you think of this latest chapter!

**Flameraven1: **Thank you for reviewing again. As to how Ranma's going to fix it… well, I'll leave that up to him (not a clue). As to everyone else knowing and Akane leaving – well, I think I've had one too many where Akane abandoned everyone. So here is one without abandonment, but please let me know what you think. Thanks to my beta reader I've incorporated the other POV's to hopefully clarify personality quirks which may otherwise seem extremely OOC.

Well, I look forward to reading what you think of the latest chapter!

**The Keeper of Worlds: **Thank you for reviewing again, hope you'll enjoy this one. Note the distinct lack of apologies from some people and more from others. Anyway, hope you enjoy this! Let me know what you thought!

**jabber185: **Thank you for review. With any luck you're right and she'll understand his position sooner (or later). Anyways, the next chapter should at least clarify her thoughts a wee bit, so let me know what you think!

**caia-chan: **Thanks for your review. I agree, my fics tend to have Akane running before she comes to her senses. Well, let me alleviate that worry at least – no running. I agree Ranma's a jerk and I honestly have trouble sometimes following his reasoning, but hopefully you won't notice that … too much! Hope you enjoy this chapter and please let me know what you think!

**kana: **Thanks for your second review. Hopefully I've sent you a PM as explanation (XxkanaxX?) but if not, please let me clarify: Thoughts are dependent on a number of things but proximity, willingness to broadcast/hide said thoughts, emotions behind them etc. So yes, Akane's thinking hard about something, Ranma is bound to pick it up as long as he's not miles away. Thoughts directed at him he'll be able to pick up even over longer distances. Hope it explains things a bit.

**aLazyButSmartFanPJO**: Thank you for your review! Unfortunately, things go down before they go up, so… let me know what you think of this chapter but after this one it's bound to get more positive – slowly.

**samira**: Thank you for your review. Here's the next chapter, I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. Please keep reviewing!

**own son: **Wow, thank you very much for your review. I won't be going too in depth in Ryoga until Akane next meets him (then he had better start praying) and more into Ranma-Akane relationship. I figure his betrayal hurts more at this stage and the chapter will also tell you who else knew. So, anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this one. Please let me know what you thought!

**BobV: **Thank you for your review. I admit to having trouble understanding why Ranma protects Ryoga to such an extent as well. For me, the reasoning is that he's honor bound. He made a promise to Ryoga as he felt guilty for him getting turned into a pig in the first place and now he's bound by it. It's weak but hey. Anyway, please enjoy the next chapter and let me know what you think.

**4Eva Dreaming**: I'm glad you're enjoying this fanfic. Hopefully you'll like the next chapter as well. Thank you for reviewing!

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Kasumi stared at her sister when she entered the Tendo house. Her face was pale and gleaming with the sheen of sweat. Her arms were wrapped around herself in a defensive position and her shoulders were drooping. There were clear tear tracks on her face and reddened eyes looked up at her. It wasn't hard to recognise anger, desperation, sadness and betrayal in her eyes.

"Oh my. Akane-chan..."

Instead of walking into her open arms as Akane would have normally done, Kasumi watched as she ducked underneath them, refusing to meet her eyes.

"Kasumi, can you get everyone but ... my fiancé into the living room, please."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Akane watched her older sister give her another concerned glance before nodding in acquiescence to her request. Somehow it was hard to say his name, to say the name of the man who'd hurt her so.

Trying to contain her emotions, Akane sat down at the table awaiting the rest of her family.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ooh, Saotome, do you think this is it? The moment the schools unite?"

Before Genma could reply, Akane cut him off.

"P-Chan. This is about P-Chan. Did you know about Ryoga's Jusenkyo curse? You know the one – cold water and you have P-Chan and a bit of hot water, voila you have Ryoga... The guy who slept in my bed. Did you know about that?"

She watched and felt her heart break when her father wouldn't meet her eyes. Genma she could understand. A man heartless enough to throw his own son into a pit of starving cats – ignoring his cries and screams - he wouldn't be squeamish about this in the least.

But her own father? The one who cried and wanted her to remain his little girl forever? The one who'd held her at night? The man she'd idolised when she was small? He'd...

Turning away from him, half in disgust, half in hurt she looked at her sisters. Both Kasumi and Nabiki seemed in shock at the news and Akane breathed a momentary sigh of relief. At least her sisters had not been amongst the ones who betrayed her.

Her own father on the other hand...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since their mother had died, Kasumi had taken over the duties of the Tendo household. Their father had remained the visual face, but it was Kasumi who knew and liaised with all the neighbours and smoothed over problems or difficulties over any fights. She was the one who sent out birthday cards and gifts and kept up to date with all their friends and allies. It was Kasumi who organised her family's life, who knew more about everything that went on than even Nabiki. She filled the role of head of household as well as a mother – the one to take care of injuries, clean the house, cook the food and arrange doctor's appointments.

Kasumi enjoyed the background – she helped and aided unseen when yet another one of her father's plots caused havoc. Up until now she had not interfered with Soun, though she had brought her concerns up with him in private regarding his continued plans to force her youngest sister and Ranma together. But this – this went against everything she believed in, everything she stood for and her mother had stood for. Everything their father used to stand for.

"Father, how could you?" Kasumi's voice – normally filled with warmth and gentleness was cold.

She could feel a quiet strength surge through her, back straight and eyes dead on her father's. There was rarely a need for her to display her backbone and many people took her bowed head and quiet compliance for a lack thereof. That couldn't be further from the truth.

The same stubbornness, the same determination her sisters had flowed through her as well. Now was the time to assume the mantle of head of the Tendo household that her father had so carelessly abandoned years ago, fully. The time for her to fade into the background had come to an abrupt end.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I-well..."

Akane watched her father quiver and quell under her sisters' glare. For once, all the Tendo girls were united: There had been a boy abusing his curse to sleep in one of their beds and push his way into their circle of trust. Their own father had not stepped in despite the disgrace on their family, despite _knowing_ about it.

"It made my boy jealous. If those two weren't so stubborn we'd never have to resort to these methods." Appalled, Kasumi gasped at Genma's words. Even Nabiki stared horrified at the two men.

Akane's lips quivered – though not with tears. White hot fury roared up and she could feel her battle aura breaking out as she stared at the two men.

"Father, is that true?"

Akane watched her father nod, the icy grip on her heart tightening.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nabiki stared over the dinner table at the events unfolding in front of her. Even with all her informants and through all her network she'd never even received a trickle of information regarding Ryoga's curse.

She winced inwardly. It had never even occurred to her, though in retrospect it did seem rather obvious especially with Ranma calling the pig 'Ryoga' so frequently.

God, there had been occasions where the pig had been in her room whilst Akane was in the Dojo and she'd not given a second thought to undressing. For the first time in a long time, Nabiki found herself in the same boat as her sisters. She was nowhere near as prude as her younger or older sister but the thought of someone spying on her unaware sent a shiver down her spine. The mere thought of sleeping in the same bed with that pig was revolting; she didn't want to imagine how much worse than her Akane felt.

Selling pictures of her sister was fine – Kuno was certifiable and Akane could easily take him in a fight. Besides, all the pictures of Akane were of her exercising – nothing naughty or raunchy - unlike the pictures of Ranma's female half. Over the years she'd done her fair share of tormenting her sisters to obtain money but there had always been a line.

Annoyed or upset people were fine as long as it didn't go into dangerous territory. To be honest, she'd never expected Akane to be as upset as she had turned out to be about the change in engagement with Ranma to her she'd instigated ages ago. Having seen them fighting, bickering and insulting one another till Kingdom come, she had never anticipated how upset her sister had actually appeared at Ranma being engaged to Nabiki instead.

She'd never thought she actually had any feelings for the guy beyond a mild crush but then she'd seen her so incredibly happy to go on a date with him; it had been a surprise, an unexpected one at that. It had been a long time since Nabiki had seen Akane in such high spirits and looking so excited. Like a girl on a first date with the love of her life – if one believed in such romanticisms.

The point was, she would never intentionally go out to cause harm to her sisters – it was her line. The family went above all else – even profit. Especially on occasions such as this one where their own father had done something so irredeemably stupid. Unlike the martial artists or Kasumi, the tradionalist, she didn't much care for honour. But in this case there was a clear right and a wrong and their father had crossed the line without ever looking back. She vaguely wondered if he realised even now what he'd done.

This time she was on the same side as Kasumi and Akane. This situation had gone unchecked for too long and Nabiki knew that she needed to at least feel safe in her own house. She'd always thought that no one would be stupid or insane enough to attack her of all people in a house full of martial artists with crazy skills. Turns out, she was wrong.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before anyone else could take action, Kasumi stood up in one graceful movement.

"Father, you have dishonoured the family. You have sullied the name of Tendo and you have acted against the very principle that governs martial arts. I, Kasumi Tendo, will no longer tolerate to have you in the same house as us. Your presence only further tarnishes our reputation and for the good of the Tendo family, you WILL leave this house this very night. I will be acting head of house in your absence until you have made reparations that have been accepted by ALL the affected parties."

Kasumi, normally gentle and quiet, took another deep breath, summoning more strength. This – this travesty would no longer be tolerated. Not in her house. Not to her own youngest sister. Swallowing, she summoned all her fury as she glared at Genma Saotome.

"Mr. Saotome, we have allowed you into our house on good faith, as a friend of my father two years ago. In these two years you have not contributed to the household at all by actions, words or monetary means. You have abused our faith and trust, besmirched our name and reputation and abandoned all honour. You are no longer welcome in this house – nor will you ever be again as long as I live under this roof. Please leave as soon as you have packed."

Sending a cautious glance at her youngest sister, she hesitated momentarily before continuing.

"Your son, Ranma, however has defended the honour and reputation of this dojo and its inhabitants on several occasions. He remains welcome and you shall not touch his belongings. Leave this house now, Genma Saotome. Father, please make arrangements with one of your friends immediately and then I must ask you to leave as well."

"Bu-But... Kasumi-chan, you can't mean that...? I'm your father."

Nabiki stood up, glaring, hand on Kasumi's shoulder in support.

"Exactly, father. You are meant to protect our honour. If there is a boy sleeping in my bed, will you allow him to do so as long as he's rich? Or famous? Or a good martial artist? Or maybe it's okay because he's a friend? ... YOU ARE OUR FATHER. There is no possible reason you could come up with to justify this. You are here to protect us, not to expose us even further to outside harm. I have by no means a clean sheet but I have never – ever – done anything to betray the members of our family. Right now, I will not acknowledge you as my father. Leave."

Akane felt a weight lift off her. Unconditional support. Nabiki had her flaws, but even she had stood up for her. All three sisters stood beside one another and for once there was no dissention, no hesitation.

She watched out of the corner of her eyes as both men stood up, Genma furiously gesturing and protesting with Soun to stop this madness. But at least her father seemed to have had some sort of epiphany as he ignored his friends cajoling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Mr. Saotome has left. Nodoka came by to pick him up – I have explained the situation to her so she will handle Genma as she sees fit. Father... Father has also left. He will be staying with the Suzuki's... Akane, how are you?"

Curled up on Nabiki's bed with her sister's arm around her, the blue haired girl looked up at Kasumi. Her older sister had watched carefully as Genma packed, made phone calls and arrangements and handled the entire affair with the same quiet grace she handled all her normal household chores with.

For the first time in a long time all the sisters were of the same opinion and it soothed something within Akane that she hadn't known was upset.

"I'm... much better. I only found out by accident today. Ranma – he... he knew. Ryoga – has a Jusenkyo curse. He and P-Chan are the same and I saw it with my own eyes... I simply couldn't... I didn't... That... pervert. He slept in my bed, he saw me undress... Kasumi-chan, I told him secrets. I trusted him. I thought... I thought he was a pet!"

Eyes brimming with tears, Akane looked up at her older sister. She watched her kneel down in front of her and engulf her in a warm hug. Nabiki joined only a moment later.

It was therapeutic, opening up to her sisters. Akane found herself talking for the first time about China, Saffron... about dying. They talked about Ryoga, Ranma and her feelings – there was no need to hide anything, no need to think about her words before she said them. The relief she felt at finally being able to talk about all this was breathtaking.

Nothing was resolved particularly except to emphasise that there was no way Ryoga would ever set foot in the Tendo House again but the simple fact that for once her sisters were fully on her side, supported her, was enough.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_'__I don't know where else to look. Maybe she's back home?'_

Cursing, a wet and female Ranma hopped from roof to roof. The rain barely allowed him to see a few feet from where he was standing, so the search for Akane was slow going. This was really not the way their first date should have gone.

He'd heard her thoughts every now and again – but only snippets. The distance between them had been too great and he suspected Akane had not wanted him to catch any of her thoughts so only a few words slipped through the cracks.

The ones he did receive served only to make him feel worse about the entire thing. To be honest, he'd expected to have a fuming, angry Akane at his hands – the emotions he had felt from her were far removed from anger most of the time. There had been revulsion, heartbreak, sorrow, betrayal and hurt.

Ranma grimaced again at the memory of the emotional echoes he'd been getting from Akane. Honour or no honour he should have found a way to protect his fiancée.

Drenched and shivering, Ranma entered the Tendo Household.

"Kasumi? Is Akane home?"

_'__She must be here, surely. Hopefully.'_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The three sisters looked at each other, uncertain. Finally, Kasumi sighed and stood up.

"I'll talk to him."

Walking down the stairs, Kasumi found Ranma in the living room, worriedly looking for everyone.

"Good evening, Ranma."

"Kasumi! Is Akane here? ... Where is everybody? Has something happened?"

_'__God, please tell me she's okay.'_

"Ranma. Akane is here and she's being consoled by Nabiki upstairs. I think it's time you and I had a talk."

"Okay, but I need to talk to Akane first. There's something-"

Ranma stopped, staring at Kasumi. She was still smiling genially, but there was firmness in her eyes and an icy air around her that told him he'd be better off obeying.

"That can wait. We know about P-Chan and Ryoga because Akane told us. Now you and I will talk."

Wide eyed, Ranma complied, sitting mutely on the couch. Kasumi reminded him of his mother when she was caressing her Katana and that in and of itself was a scary comparison.

"We have heard Akane's version of the events. It's time you tell me what you think happened."

_'__...hurts, so much... disgusted... Ryoga... Why...?'_

Breathing in and straightening up, Ranma looked up at Kasumi, ignoring the thoughts he was receiving from Akane.

His heart was in his throat – he wasn't quite sure of what had happened but somehow he knew that it was Kasumi who would be making the decision that could either make or break him based on what he told her.

Time for the truth. He wasn't sure if it'd suffice for Kasumi to allow him to see Akane again but it was worth a try and it was all he had.

"Do you remember the night Ryoga first attacked? I found out he had a Jusenkyo curse that night. I swore on my honour as a martial artist not to tell anyone about the curse... I had no idea at that time even what the curse turned him into. I only found out afterwards, when Akane asked me to wash her pig."

Ranma sighed slightly.

"I tried to catch pig-Ryoga but he hid behind Akane. Seeing me chasing the pig and hitting it obviously made her angry and... well, I wasn't happy to see her kiss the pig and say she was going to take it to bed with her."

Blushing slightly, Ranma avoided Kasumi's eyes. Akane's older sister was giving no signs of her approval – or disapproval – regarding his words and his nervousness was only rising. Fiddling slightly with his Chinese shirt, he continued.

"Of course I tried that night to threaten Ryoga with hot water and get him out of her bed but whilst trying to catch him I, well, landed on top of Akane – she woke up and accused me of being a pervert. It just... didn't go very well. I have managed to sneak P-Chan out a few times but there were also a number of times I didn't manage it."

Sighing slightly, Ranma continued. There was not much he could say in his own defense – he knew that.

"I never meant to hurt Akane, I just-... I guess I never thought about how she'd feel once she found out. I thought she'd be angry, not hurt. It's just... Promises are very important to me. My dad always broke promises. I vowed never to be like him in that regard; I ... Define myself by it – A promise is something that you swear on your honour and honour is everything. I am so sorry, Kasumi. I know I should have thought of something else – anything else, but I couldn't. I never intended to hurt Akane, I was trying to protect her."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kasumi looked at the boy – no, the young man in front of her. Upfront, honest and apologetic. This was a real mess – Akane had accused him of being jealous and a pervert any time he came after the pig and he had been forced to try other means of extracting the pig from her bedroom which only resulted in his fiancée being even angrier with him.

God, they really never did get a break. But now, the decision was up to her. Would Ranma stay or would he be told to leave?

"Ranma, I am sure you have noticed by now that father and Mr. Saotome are no longer here."

Sending her a cautious glance, he nodded.

"The first thing I need to tell you is that I am now acting Head of the Tendo household. I will make all the decisions and I am also the one who asked both our fathers to leave. See, they both knew about Ryoga being P-Chan. Your father, Ranma, will never be welcome in this house again as long as I reside here or one of my sisters does. Our Father is staying with a friend until such a time that we are certain he has remedied the situation and understood its repercussions. Now, I will need to make a decision in regards to you."

Swallowing hard, Ranma looked at the floor.

"I understand. I apologise, Kasumi. I will pack up right away."

To his surprise, a hand on his arm stopped him.

"Now, that's not what I said. Ranma, you and Akane have been through a lot together. I am sure there a things even we don't know about... but you brought her back to us. When she was kidnapped in China you risked your life just as she risked hers to save you."

At his flabbergasted expression, Kasumi smiled gently.

"You brought my youngest sister back to me, healthy and happy. And it wasn't the first time. We have never thanked you, so I thank you now for all the times you saved her and brought her back to us, for all the times you risked your life to save my sister. I thank you. I also thank you for your honesty just now. It... explained quite a few things."

Sighing, Kasumi folded her hands in her lap, straightening up and looking at her sister's fiancé. He was blushing furiously but his shoulders were a bit straighter and he looked proud of himself.

"Now, you understand there will be a lot of changes if you choose to still stay here. You are welcome here. I don't condone the way you handled the P-Chan / Ryoga affair but by the same token we have to take into account that the way you were raised is to believe that you are to solve any and all problems yourself as anything else is 'unmanly'; Honour above all else. Genma Saotome has a lot to answer for and I am just glad that your heart is in the right place even when your head is not."

Smiling warmly at Ranma – who was by now staring at her in surprise, blush gone – she continued.

"If you choose to stay here then please ensure that none – and I mean none – of your other fiancées are invited here. Not Ukyo and not Shampoo. Mousse and Cologne are not welcome either. I will talk to Akane later as well, but there will be no screaming matches in this household anymore. Any grievances will be addressed in a normal tone of voice, without shouting or insults. If you cannot resolve your problems or misunderstandings, come to me and we will talk. A lot of... behaviours have been allowed to go unchecked – with Akane, with you, with Nabiki; unacceptable behaviours. I should never have allowed things to escalate to this stage of affairs. For my part in this situation, I apologise. But be aware that as of now that will change. This will no longer be tolerated. Are you still willing to stay here?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ranma stared. He couldn't help it. He still remembered the time they'd thought Kasumi was angry and feared to tread her path. It was nothing compared to now – she was truly frightening and he could suddenly understand his dad's behaviour around his mother a lot better.

But... she'd not demanded anything outrageous. In fact, if anything, if Kasumi actually managed to pull this off, his life would be a thousand times easier. Without his dad to interfere, or Akane's dad trying to push them together or any of his fiancées putting him into situations that were easily misread... maybe he and Akane could finally...?

Cutting himself off, Ranma remembered that at the moment Akane was probably about to encourage whoever next tried to kill him and highly unlikely to want to try and date him again. The few thoughts he did get from her weren't helping though mostly all he received were emotions. Despite her earlier words of Nerima craziness and going on other dates he thought that it probably didn't apply to this situation.

Noticing Kasumi still watching him, awaiting his decision, Ranma shook his head to focus on what she was saying.

"This is ... more than I expected. If you are certain then I would like to stay here. I'll talk to Ukyo and Shampoo but I cannot promise anything on their behalf."

Kasumi nodded, smiling, feeling relieved. Maybe she could make everything fall into place after all.

"That is good news. Now, there is food in the kitchen, please help yourself. Nabiki and I will be taking care of Akane for tonight. For the moment, I believe it will take a bit of time before you can explain your side of the story to her."

Ranma nodded in acceptance. As long as Akane had someone to take care of her, he was happy. Besides, he'd never expected to be steamrollered into submission in such a way. His dad not allowed to set foot in the house? Akane's father evicted until he apologised properly?

It was enough to send his head spinning, never mind all the new rules.

_''__kane, I hope you're okay. I am so, so sorry.'_

Sighing, Ranma turned to the food, trying to think of ways to impress the importance of obeying these rules into Shampoo, Mousse, Cologne and Ukyo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lying in bed, cuddled against her for once tender sister Nabiki, Akane found herself snapping up occasional stray thoughts from Ranma. Kasumi truly was frightening when she was in this mode – which had only happened once before, when Akane had run away from home at the age of nine. She never – ever – had wanted to see her older sister in that state again, though now she couldn't help but be impressed.

"Hey, sis. Let's get you to bed so you can sleep this off. Don't worry, after Kasumi is through with Ranma he won't make a peep in your direction."

Sending a shaky smile at her sister, Akane couldn't help but feel a rush of affection and gratitude.

Nabiki always came across as cold-hearted and unaffected by everything that went on around her. While certainly not overly compassionate towards strangers no one should ever cross her when it came down to her family. Family, to Nabiki, was everything.

Just as Akane was about to open the door, Kasumi entered.

"Oh, going to bed?"

At Akane's nod Kasumi smiled.

"That's good. I have allowed Ranma to stay here. He knows not to talk to you and to leave you alone. I will talk to you tomorrow about the new household rules as well."

Slightly curious in spite of herself, Akane looked up at her older sister but was simply ushered to her bedroom.

To her surprise, Akane found herself hesitating as she looked at the door with the small duck sign that had her name on it. A vague sense of dread filled her that she couldn't quite place. Frowning, she shook it off and firmly opened the door.

"Thanks, Nabiki, Kasumi. I'll be fine."

Sending them both a smile, she turned back around to walk towards her closet. The moment her hands fastened around her pyjamas, she started shaking.

How often had she pressed Ryoga to her chest in those pyjamas? How often had he seen her undress to put these on?

Swallowing hard, she slammed the door shut, leaning on the opposite side of the room. Her whole body was shaking, an unnamed fear rushing through her as bile rose in her throat.

_'__Oh god...'_

In a bid to avoid looking at the dreaded cupboard, Akane had turned her head only to come face to face with her bed. The same bed Ryoga had slept in with her – a naked boy cuddled to her chest, leering at her, touching her... she'd even kissed him on the snout. Was that the same as a kiss?

_'__Oh god, oh god, oh god...'_

The boys used to fight for the privilege to date her but Akane had never been so certain that's all it was. What if Ryoga had simply decided to take what he wanted? She'd seen the monstrous strength he had but he'd never inspired this fear inside her. Ryoga had always seemed kind, shy and honourable. And yet, he had been sneaking in her bed, kissing her, looking at her naked. What had stopped him from going beyond that?

And with that thought came the stark realisation that she knew that if Ryoga had decided to take what he wanted, she wouldn't have been able to fight him off – hold him off, maybe, but not stop him. She would've been helpless, unaware of anything until it was too late. He could've done anything.

In a blind panic, Akane stumbled over herself, yanking open the door and escaping into the corridor. Tears gathered in her eyes as the fear wouldn't let go of her. Collapsing into a ball in front of the bathroom her eyes couldn't leave her bedroom door.

Desperate she tried her usual method of turning fear into anger but it only served to send her into more of a shivering mess.

Ever since she'd met Ranma, Akane had learnt about fear and its different types. The fear of losing someone you love, the fear of death, the fear of creatures, the fear of pain, the fear of the unknown... but she'd faced these fears. She'd turned her fears into courage, into anger and fought or battled her way through.

Understanding dawned and Akane recoiled, shivering, as she realised why this one was so hard. This was not something she could fight, something she could object to. It had been done to her and could easily be done again – or worse - without her knowledge. She had no defense, no technique to beat this, had no one to fight against.

Fear overwhelming her, eyes fixed on her bedroom, shivers running through her, Akane felt the tears run down her face unbidden. Her breath was coming out in gasps of pain as her chest was constricted with terror and her lungs wouldn't allow enough oxygen to pass through.

She was cold, so cold. Everything seemed like it was coming through a fog.

Unseeing, Akane stared at her bedroom door and all she could feel was a pig snout burrowing itself between her breasts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unbidden, Kasumi let out a little cry when she saw her youngest sister slumped against the wall. Having been roused from her chat with Nabiki about proper behaviour and house rules by the noises, she'd decided to investigate. A part of her had thought it might either be Ranma attempting to talk to Akane too soon or the pig-boy had come back.

Instead, Akane was lying there, staring at her bedroom, her entire body wracking with tremors. Her face was a pasty white and there was no mistaking the abject horror reflected in her wide eyes.

"AKANE!"

Surging forward, Kasumi kneeled beside her sister, shaking her gently. She barely noticed Nabiki arriving next to her.

Akane showed no reaction, eyes staring into nothingness and her entire body unresponsive. It took Kasumi a moment to realise that the reason her sister wasn't responding was due to shock.

Biting her lip it barely took her a second to make decision before her hand harshly collided with Akane's cheek. The clap resounded through the house and Akane's face jerked sideways with the force. Nabiki gasped.

She could her Ranma's footsteps bounding upstairs, uncertain as to what was going on. He had felt the fear but had checked the outside of the Tendo house first suspecting an intruder and only then heard Kasumi shouting Akane's name.

All of Kasumi's focus remained on her youngest sister and she was rewarded with a slow blink from Akane's eyes even as her hand rose to touch her cheek.

"Kasumi...?"

Relief shining in her smile and eyes, she allowed her shoulders to relax as she gently stroked Akane's head.

"Glad to see you back here with us."

"I- What happened?"

"I don't think you should sleep in your bed tonight, Akane-chan. How about you sleep in my room? But I think you should probably have a bath before then..."

Wincing, Akane shook her head. A bath – being naked – it still sent a shiver down her spine.

_'__I just don't feel safe anymore.'_

"Okay, how about we go to bed now, then. Nabiki, could you give Akane one of your nightgowns?"

Still pale from seeing her sister in that state, Nabiki merely nodded and disappeared into her room.

"Ranma, please stay downstairs for now."

Blue eyes looked at Kasumi before going back to Akane.

_'__I know you don't want to see me just now, but... are you okay?'_

Akane sighed, hands still shaking slightly even as she stood up to go to Kasumi's room.

_'__No, Ranma. I am not okay. But you being here is not helping – could you please just... leave me alone for now?' _

Wordlessly, Ranma nodded in acquiescence to her request and went back down to the living room.

Moments later Nabiki reappeared with a ... well, it could only be called a negligee in her hands. Staring at the flimsy cloth she looked up at her sister.

"What is that?"

"That, my dear sister, is what you wear when you want to look sexy. In this house, you never know what might happen."

Akane snorted at Nabiki's words, suppressing another shiver. There was definitely truth in that.

"I can't wear that."

"You're sleeping with Kasumi. It'll be fine. Besides, I knew how you'd react. This is the most modest one I've got."

Akane gaped at her sister and Kasumi put a hand in front of her mouth in surprise.

"Oh my. This is your modest one?"

"No idea how to be sexy, either of you! Well, Akane, what's it going to be? Take it or leave it."

Akane frowned before taking the negligee from her sister. With both sisters at her side she went into Kasumi's room and changed quickly. The nightdress ended mid-thigh and had only two thin straps to hold it up, as well as a large décolleté. On the other hand it was a soft pink colour and it felt almost like silk under her hands. Blushing slightly, Akane looked up at Nabiki.

"I can see why you wear this. It feels really nice."

She only received a self-confident smirk from Nabiki before she waved goodbye and returned to her room.

"Let's go to sleep then, Akane, shall we?"

Smiling at her younger sister, Kasumi prepared herself for bed quickly before rolling out the futon for Akane.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eyes flitting around the darkness, Akane found her hands fisted in the duvet. Every shadow, every sliver of light, everything looked like P-Chan or another boy sneaking in.

_'__Your mind's playing tricks on you, Akane. No one is here. Just you and Kasumi. She'll protect you.'_

Against her will she summoned up an image of Kasumi trying to fight someone – and barely suppressed a giggle even as the fear in her heightened. No, if someone came then she'd have to protect herself.

Gritting her teeth, Akane clamped her hands around her own wrists. Well, let them come. They would get beaten up – badly. The only one who had ever protected her was... Ranma.

That thought made her pause. It wasn't entirely absurd - whatever fights they were embroiled in, whatever misunderstandings, Ranma had always protected her without fail. But could she...?

Sending another glance at Kasumi, sleeping happily in her bed, she made a decision. There was no way she was getting any sleep tonight and there was no way she was crawling to Ranma asking for his protection just so she could get some sleep.

Akane felt exhausted and more than ready to sleep but whenever she closed her eyes she would've sworn blind she heard a "Bwee!" and saw a pink snout, followed by a black body and his bandana. Eyes snapping open, they scanned the room again for intruders before finally giving up completely on any hope of getting sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With a quiet groan of exasperation at herself for being scared of the dark for all intents and purposes, she grabbed her duvet and pillow to go downstairs.

Once seated on the couch, Akane found herself shifting and twisting, feeling as though her back and neck were bared for any intruders. With a quiet sigh of resignation she grabbed a chair, placed it with the back to the wall, allowing her full view of the main entrance, the kitchen and the stairs.

Akane knew full well she was being over the top but the feeling of dread within her had barely diminished and wouldn't allow her to rest. Even now, with the wall at her back, she still felt unsafe as though Ryoga's hands would force themselves through the wall at either side of her. Rationally, she knew that it was highly unlikely. Ryoga had never touched her inappropriately in human form, had never made any such open advances on her and yet she couldn't help the rising fear within her at the mere suggestion that he might.

Groaning again and suppressing a shiver, Akane settled in for a long night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bleary-eyed, Akane jumped up from her chair and into a defensive position only to realise it was Kasumi coming down the stairs to start breakfast. Rubbing her forehead to alleviate her headache she slumped back down.

"Morning, Onee-chan."

"Good Morning, Akane. Oh my, you look... Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Define sleep..."

Kasumi giggled slightly at her sister's grumpy expression.

"Come now, I'll make you your favourite breakfast and you can pick out some of my clothes for today."

The corner of Akane's lips turned up into a slight smile. Her sister had always been good at seeing when someone needed comfort food. Shoulder slumped and exhaustion pulling on all her muscles, Akane followed her sister into the kitchen with even less grace than usual, eyes closing on their own volition every few seconds before snapping open quickly.

As the hours of the night had stretched on, her fear had abated slightly and with it came the lack of emotions that only exhaustion could bring. It was hard to get her body to produce any more adrenaline and even Kasumi turning up had only caused a short jolt before the tiredness overwhelmed everything again, numbing her.

Yawning, Akane slumped against the wall in the kitchen, content to watch Kasumi flit about the kitchen and vaguely wondering if she'd ever be anywhere near her sister's proficiency – or if she'd ever manage to produce anything edible altogether.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She heard his steps before he ever came into her field of view. Akane's head shot up and she stared at her fiancé standing awkwardly by the stairs.

"Akane, I'm sorry. Would you... would you like me to eat later?"

Shaking her head minutely she watched as he carefully approached. He didn't say anything, just smiled softly and ate. After a moment, Akane looked back down.

Ranma would have a good reason for what he'd done, right? He'd explain and suddenly it would all make sense... maybe Ryoga had blackmailed him? Maybe he couldn't tell her? Maybe it was a spell... and then she and Ranma could go back to being engaged and he'd protect her. He'd have a good reason for this, right? He'd never ever do something like this to her willingly... He wouldn't.

Clenching her hands reflexively around her rice bowl she shot a glance at her fiancé. He looked as upset as she felt.

Sighing, Akane stood up.

"When you're finished with breakfast, meet me in the Dojo, please. I'd like you to tell me your version."

It was time to trust her fiancé. He'd often been caught in weird situations with his other fiancées which later turned out to be remarkably innocent but at first glance were pretty damning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ranma winced. He'd been catching her thoughts all morning, careful to keep his own mind blank. This was not going to go well. For once, Akane had decided to listen to his side of the story prior to judging him and for once he wished she wasn't.

Appetite thoroughly gone, Ranma stood up to follow her.

He really, really hoped she'd be mad. Angry Akane he could take – a crying one not so much.

Sucking in another breath and telling himself to man up, he entered the Dojo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, 'kane."

Smiling softly at the raven haired martial artist, Akane gestured to the cushion in front of her. Everything was going to be okay.

"Hey, Ranma."

She'd kick him and hit him a bit but they'd be okay.

Akane watched as Ranma squared his shoulders as he sat down and then assumed the Crouch of the Wild Tiger to her amusement, sinking down into a dogeza almost during his apologies.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Sniggering slightly she looked at him. Trust Ranma to use a martial arts technique even for something as simple as an apology.

_'__Just- Just explain it to me. Why?' _

She watched him flinch slightly and for a moment her heartbeat picked up. Ranma always had a good reason, even if he did incredibly stupid thing in pursuit of it... right?

"I'm sorry, 'kane. You have to believe me – I never wanted to hurt you."

_'__When I first found out that Ryoga had a curse it also came up that he'd been thrown into the Jusenkyo because he was following me and a red haired girl running after a panda bumped him off the cliff. I... felt guilty. I didn't know what his curse was, but promised not to let anyone else know about it. I did not know that he turned into the black piglet you'd adopted until you asked me to take a hot bath with it.'_

Akane tightened her grip on her own hands. He'd known... since the beginning? Of course he had. He'd been in her bedroom blabbering on about Ryoga. Forcibly remaining quiet and calm – the exhaustion was, ironically enough, helping with that – she looked at Ranma and waited for him to continue.

_'__When I attacked the pig, you stopped me – obviously thinking I was attacking a poor, defenceless pet. I just – I was shocked and a bit jealous when you kissed it and declared you'd be taking it to bed with you. I should've said something then but I was too wrapped up in my own upset at your decision and my own feelings about honour and promises... That is why I tried to sneak into your room in the middle of the night. I thought I could get Ryoga out of it by threatening him with hot water – well, that turned into a battle, I ended up on top of you somehow and then you woke up. You know what happened the following night.'_

Ranma was sighing, blue eyes apologetic and lips twisted into a grimace as he faced her.

"I should have told you, somehow. I shouldn't have waited... I... My honour is important but so is yours. I never really thought about it in that much detail, I only ever thought about how to get Ryoga to back off. It... I never thought you'd be anything but angry. I never thought you'd... be this hurt. I should have realised." Another grimace. "I've walked around in girl shape often enough to know how it feels when guys leer at you. I should have realised how you'd feel, knowing he was in your room. I betrayed your trust. I am so sorry, Akane."

Akane felt all the emotions drain out of her in one breath. How had it come to this?

"You're... sorry?"

Another breath. Realisation sank in.

He'd let another boy sleep in her bed and he was _sorry_ for not telling her?

Another breath.

Another chance. Ranma would never do this to her, he just wouldn't. He protected her with his life, he saved her more times than she could count and she knew that beneath the 'tough guy' exterior he could be remarkably sensitive and emotional. Ranma wouldn't, never.

"What about all the times where Ryoga nearly exposed his secret all by himself? What about all the times you stopped me from finding out accidentally?"

A wince from Ranma. Akane clenched her fists tighter, reminding herself to wait until he'd finished his explanation.

"I... my promise was not to let anyone else find out – not simply to not tell. I realise it sounds like a feeble excuse now but I had to protect his identity as a matter of honour. You should never have been drawn into this. Ryoga should've realised what he was doing to y-"

"RYOGA?", Akane snapped, patience evaporating into thin air.

"RYOGA should have realised? Yes, he damn well should have! But so should you! You are my fiancé! How often did you have the opportunity? He was in MY bed! He saw me undress! I told him my thoughts, my feelings, my secrets! I kissed him! How do you think _I_ feel? How could you, Ranma? It's been years – YEARS! Not days, not weeks or months. YEARS. And you still didn't think about me, at all, in this entire situation? Didn't think maybe it's worthwhile telling your fiancée that she's letting a BOY sleep in her room?"

There was very little satisfaction in watching Ranma's shoulders sink lower with each word, watch his head bow more. Glare intensifying she stared at him.

"When we first met – remember those boys attacking me? They wanted a date from me and god knows what else – brutes, clustering together to attack a girl hoping that beating me up will somehow allow them access. I told you then I hate boys. You and Ryoga have always proven to be the only exception – or so I thought until last night. I ... never thought either of you would be capable of this. I thought you were honourable, non-perverted boys – ones who actually thought of the woman and not just that the end justifies the means."

Shaking her head, Akane shivered slightly. Her daddy was meant to protect her. Her fiancé was meant to protect her.

That thought made her grit her teeth again.

"Leave me alone, Ranma. I can't... I just can't see you just now."

With a heavy heart she watched him walk quietly out of the dojo, shoulder drooping and unable to meet her eyes.

Where had the Akane from two years ago gone to? The one who insisted she needed no protector? The one who fought her own battles? The one who didn't rely on anyone?

When had she become so dependent on others to protect her? When had she started having such blind faith in Ranma that she thought he would always protect her?

Well, no more. Ranma had proven himself to be just as dishonourable as all the other boys. And Ryoga – well, he was worse than Kuno and all the others combined. Her father hadn't lifted a finger to protect her and Genma, well, she'd known since she heard about the training at Jusenkyo that something wasn't quite right with that man.

Frowning, Akane fought the exhaustion, anger drowning out the sorrow she felt, her body fluidly moving from one kata into the next, fury lending her strength where her body would've given up. She'd defend herself. Akane Tendo was a lot of things, but helpless was not one of them – would never again be one of them.

She ignored the tears running down her face, heart aching at being betrayed by the one person she'd felt closer to than anyone else, betrayed by the man she'd died to save in China... by the man she loved.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let me know what you thought, guys! Please review...

Oh, short poll if anyone's interested… I had three ideas and got several pages written on them already – so which one would you be most interested in me to develop:

1. As so many others before me, Ukyo and the fake wedding. Akane and Ranma actually talk and try to pull of the pretense more than in the manga. Obviously neither has any actual idea of what a marriage should be like…

2. As suggested by a reader, Akane travels back in time. She's lived until the age of 24, Ranma died two years prior but he trained her in martial arts until they were equal(ish). Now, back in time with the knowledge but her body not quite up to par. I was thinking she wakes back up when Ranma is stuck with the Moxibustion and weak as a newborn kitten.

3. Or, third one, Soun Tendo is as much alike Genma as the manga makes him out to be (y'know, saying that it was 'rigorous' training him in Cat Fist. So what if Soun had been more alike to Genma and never quit training Akane – but what if they kept it quiet for fear of people challenging Akane/Soun? So she meets Ranma but keeps her skills on the down low during their (mis-)adventures? And what when he finally does find out?

Anyway, let me know if you're interested in any (or none) of these…


	4. Resolutions Part 1

Hiya,

This is the next chapter up now! YAY!

Just a couple of notes – this chapter will hopefully head back into the more lighthearted category of things (I just enjoy adding a bit of drama every now and then).

**Warning: Swearing, even more Ryoga-bashing (though within reason)**

If you are interested, this is how people voted:

1. (Ukyo-Marriage) - 3

2. (Time travel) - 9

3. (Soun=Genma) - 1

As per usual – huge thanks to my beta reader **pursemonger**. Not only does she correct my grammar but also the plot holes and OOC characters so you can get a much better chapter for reading! So, thank you for everything you picked up on with this one!

And this chapter is also dedicated to my latest reviewers – thank you everybody:

**Kaiya Smith: **Thank you for your review. Your idea certainly sounds interesting. Hope you'll enjoy the next chapter.

**The Keeper of the Worlds: **Thank you for your review. I'm glad I managed to surprise you still. I know, part of me does sympathise with Ryoga but he just also took it too far in an attempt to make Ranma jealous and enjoy Akane's attention so in this story he's unlikely to get away easily. Thank you for your vote – it is definitely what the majority is interested in. Please let me know what you think about the latest chapter!

**Guest / BlooTaco: **Thank you very much, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Hopefully you'll enjoy the next chapter just as much. And thank you for letting me know it was you! And hey, it'll up my review count every time you accidentally do this :) Who knows, maybe there's a curse on this fanfic? *lol*

**Compucles: **Thank you for your in depth review and I fully agree – I'm starting far too many multi-chaptered stories. It's one of the reasons why the timetravel one is on the backburner; it's one I'll add to as my imagination for this one runs dry ;P Kidding.

The reason I keep ignoring Nodoka so much (and I do feel sorry for that) is that it's been a long time since I've read the mangas and I can't remember enough to build a character for her that's believable.

Regarding Ukyo – to me both Ukyo and Shampoo know about P-Chan though that won't come up until much later in this fanfic.

And regarding picking up on Akane's betrayal and emotions – I agree, Ranma usually is let off far too lightly. Unfortunately, this is intended as a humorous fanfic so differences will be resolved quickly-ish – bear in mind that they read one another's mind. It's hard to be upset with someone who keeps only thinking about you, protecting you, worrying about you. She can't even pretend that he has done this with ill intent. Anyway, hope this doesn't spoil anything.

Please let me know what you think about this latest chapter. I look forward to all your comments!

**Richard Ryley: **Thank you for your review. And yes, the reason she doesn't put them on is because those were the same ones she always wore when P-Chan was with her and unless I'm much mistaken they even have little black piglets on them. Besides, silky negligees do kind of feel amazing once you wear them *lol*

Yes, I'm glad you liked it and followed my line of thought – that's exactly what I was thinking. It's all suddenly catching up and to be honest, Akane would like to see it black and white at first because it's so much easier – but they can read minds and even if she doesn't want to acknowledge it, she does know that he had no ill intent and is genuinely apologetic. So, without further ado, here's the next chapter which will untangle some of the more tangly bits without resolving everything! Let me know what you think!

**Armichi: **Thank you for your review. And thank you for your vote – you are in line with most people's thoughts. Pretty much everyone has voted for time travel – and I have every intention of finishing any fanfic I start though it's worth noting that I write them as I go along, i.e. the next chapter for my fanfics aren't written yet (as my poor beta can attest to). Please review and let me know what you think of this chapter.

**Guest: **Thank you for your review and adding your thoughts. And don't worry, English isn't my mother tongue either :)

For me, the reason Akane is so upset can be found at the very beginning with Ranma. She just came into the age where a girl would start looking for a boyfriend and what happens? Boys try to beat her up and I completely agree with fandom calling them Hentai horde (perverted). So when Ranma comes into the picture despite her being the one to go into the bath she calls him a pervert – automatically assuming the worst. Now there is Ryoga, a boy but a close friend – she's even on more than once occasion highlighted to Ranma how he'd be a more sensitive, better boyfriend. And then it turns out that he is someone she can't trust – for 2 years he's been sneaking into her bed, seeing her undressed, perverted behaviour that even a lack of affection can't justify. It's all like two years previously: All boys are perverts. Anyway, that's just my opinion :) I hope you'll continue enjoying this fanfic irrespective of this! Please let me know what you think of the next chapter!

**WalkersCrown: **Thank you for your review! I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter – this next one will be a bit less drama and hopefully a bit more humor. I do like a more direct Kasumi – read MZephyr's Adamant Mist, it's a brilliant and interesting story with a backbone-Kasumi. It's unfortunate that the entire Ranma-Akane-Ryoga thing's not quite so Black and White but hopefully the next chapter will untangle some of it! Let me know what you think! And wow- all the way from Barbados – cool!

**Guest/BobV: **Thank you for your review. I definitely think that Ranma had to develop his own thoughts on honour and Martial artists; most likely based on everything his pop wasn't. I know, I know – the drama was necessary for the last chapter but this one will bring the humor back into play. Huh, you're pretty much the only one to vote for Option 3. I kind of liked it though it does need some refining. I plan on doing all of them it was just a matter of prioritizing them in between continuing this one and Here Kitty, Kitty and my Harry Potter and Ironman stories. Maybe I've bitten off more than I can chew here, huh. I'll try and read the fanfic you suggested when I get the chance to! Anyway, let me know what you think of this next – slightly more light hearted – chapter! Please?

**Flameraven: **Thank you for reviewing again. Yeah, agreed, she couldn't hide it until the very end – well, they were initial ideas. Plans can always be adjusted :)

I'm glad you liked it and I have to say I was always amazed at what Soun wanted Ranma to do but then as soon as he'd have done anything even vaguely untoward I think he would've flipped a switch and started crying or using the demon-face. Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Hopefully you'll enjoy this next chap just as much! Please keep reviewing!

**aLazyButSmartFanPJO: **Thank you for your review! Yeah, her family is rather meddlesome and I do like her sisters though not quite so sure about Nabiki… But anyway, I'm glad you're enjoying it and hopefully you'll like the next one too! Please let me know what you think of this chapter!

**giby-chan: **Thank you for your vote. Surprisingly you managed to be the odd one out – most people voted for 2. Sorry about that, but my intention is to write all three – it was mainly a matter of prioritization. Thanks again for your vote!

**serenityselena: **Thank you for your review and your vote. I'm glad you like Kasumi – she is a rather interesting character. Don't worry some issues between our favourite couple will be resolved in the next chapter so read on! And don't forget to leave another review (please)!

**caia-chan:** Thank you for your review and your votes. I do hope you'll enjoy the next chapter and I will reveal this much – it will deal with one of the fiancées' reactions :) *evil laugh* Anyway, please keep reviewing!

**Weird Beard: **Thank you for your review. I have to say it had me laughing out loud – I have not got much perspective on Nodoka since it's been a bit too long since I've read the manga but for the moment I couldn't agree more about her keeping her hentai ideas of manliness to herself! I mean seriously- someone is more manly the more wives they have? Anyway, thank you for your review and I completely agree. Poor Ranma's views on honor and manliness are too twisted for words – he didn't want to be like his dad but then he went too far the other way. At least that's my point of view on that. Please review again to let me know what you think about this chapter!

**Linkgold64: **Thank you for both your reviews! It was interesting to read your comment before you'd gotten around to the next chapter. Yes, a 180. Now, below is the next 180 turn ;) I do try to keep things interesting and don't worry – no one is leaving! (well apart from the ones who already left). Anyway, hope you'll enjoy this next chapter just as much!

**kana: **Thank you for your review and honestly, it's not a problem (the PM thing). It's not a big deal – I was having fun, don't worry about it! Besides, real life does have the unfortunate right to interfere with our much-improved fantasy life every now and then :) Otherwise I'd not have the electricity to run our internet or my laptop *lol*

I have actually read MZephyr's stories –He/She is brilliant, I love it! I think she's even one of my favourite authors!

Anyway, a lot of the Ranma-Akane issues should be resolved in the next chapter though don't expect Ryoga to come away too lightly (you might enjoy that :)).

Don't worry, they will all be three separate stories and two has received the most votes so far. I'll definitely concentrate on that one before moving onto the other two though all my current stories obviously receive priority! Anyway, let me know what you think of this chapter if you get the time!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Akane blinked slowly as she came back to awareness.

_'__What happened? Last thing I remember was being in the dojo and trying that mid-air kata that Ranma always does... did I fall asleep? How do you fall asleep in the middle of doing kata?'_

Feeling her muscles locked up, she stretched and allowed her eyes to adjust to the dark room. To her astonishment she was neither in her own nor in one of her sisters' rooms – rather she was in Ranma's; and not only that, she was sleeping on his futon as well.

Blushing darkly, Akane looked over to the window – trying to gauge how much time had passed since the morning. Surprisingly it looked as though it was already dusk – and she could clearly distinguish Ranma's back on the edge of the window; though admittedly, his red Chinese shirt was rather obvious.

Had he been... protecting her? Watching over her?

With a sigh, Akane realised she didn't know how she felt about that. On the one hand it was flattering and yet another demonstration from him about his affection and worry over her. But the other part insisted that she needed no man to protect her – she was damn well capable of protecting herself.

And then there was the whole Ryoga debacle. She still wasn't entirely sure how she felt about it. Well, she knew exactly how she felt about Ryoga but Ranma was a different story all together.

Ranma and she had been through so much together; they had seen one another when they were at their worst, had supported and protected each other when it had come down to it. The reason why she'd reacted so badly in face of Ranma's apology was clear – despite or maybe because of all that they had been through together, she trusted him above anyone else.

There had never been much cause for either of them to lie to one another and she'd always relied on Ranma for the truth – well, unless it concerned any emotions, of course. Then he'd usually turn into an incomprehensible, blubbering mess and she'd have to be calm enough to listen to his point of view rather than just acting on what he wasn't saying.

But the point was that she was not upset with Ranma for what Ryoga had done to her – seeing her naked, sleeping in her bed, those were all things Ryoga himself had to answer for. Ryoga was the one who had abused her kindness and behaved like a pervert.

No, her issue with Ranma was simpler and yet at the same time so much more complicated. Once he decided to keep his promise there was little recourse for him from there on – and to his credit he had done everything he could do to keep her and P-Chan apart except for telling the secret.

He'd tried hinting (pig-boy, calling Ryoga P-Chan and vice versa) but she'd not picked up on that. On top of that Ranma had separated P-Chan from her whenever he could and even snuck into her bedroom in the middle of the night knowing that she would beat him up if she woke up. He had allowed himself to be called a pervert by her and her family in his attempts to protect her without reneging on his promise.

Sighing, Akane looked up at the ceiling. If she had found herself in such a situation – if, say, Ukyo was a dog that frequently slept in Ranma's bed and she'd promised on her honour not to tell – could she in utter honesty say that she would tell him? That she wouldn't simply attempt other methods that didn't involve talking first?

The answer to that was startlingly simple. She would've done exactly the same thing Ranma had. It wouldn't have occurred to her how upset Ranma might be once he found out – and that wasn't intended to be cruel, but it simply wouldn't have suggested itself. Ukyo was a friend and no matter how much more important Ranma was to her, if she had made a promise she would try anything and everything before breaking that.

Some days she really hated this rational thinking lark.

Ranma hadn't done the right thing but she wouldn't have either in his place, so could she really fault him for that? No. She still felt hurt, betrayed and upset with him but time would soothe that. And besides - with this mind reading problem they couldn't really not talk to one another.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Akane had always been one to tackle problems head on so she resignedly shook off the thoughts and stood up to walk over to the window. She cautiously opened the window and climbed up onto the roof where she knew Ranma was sitting.

"Hey..."

Blue eyes met her own carefully, searching her for injury or upset before focusing back into the distance.

"Hey yourself."

Akane's lips quirked into a smile despite herself and sat down beside him.

"Thanks for watching over me."

Her fiancé sent her a cautious glance before turning away again, cheeks slightly coloured.

"Don't get the wrong impression, I wasn't watching over you or nothing... I just like sitting on the roof."

In spite of her current issues with Ranma, Akane found herself giggling at the obvious deflection. He did like sitting on the roof – but further up, looking at the stars or by her bedroom after they had just returned from another fight, to protect her though she wasn't sure if he knew that she was aware of him doing that. The point was that since she'd first met him two years ago, she hadn't ever seen him sit watch over his bedroom.

"Ranma?"

"Hm?"

Giving him a warm smile she repeated her earlier sentiment, feeling the need to show him that she didn't believe a word he'd said.

"Thank you."

Ranma's shoulders relaxed minutely and he shot her a small grin.

"'s okay."

Laughing slightly, the blue haired girl leaned back, eyes fixed on the sun disappearing on the horizon. She enjoyed moments like this one with him – where she could actually envision a future of them together. Ranma was rather sweet and affectionate even if he was too shy to admit it. She cherished these rare occasions where neither her jumping to conclusions nor his foot-in-mouth disease had interfered – not to mention the scarcity of even finding solitude with fiancées and rivals as well as overbearing family members running rampant.

Just her and Ranma.

"So... What happened?", Akane finally asked curiously.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She was asking him of all people what had happened? His heart had stopped when he'd seen what she was doing, but realisation had hit a moment too late to save her from falling on her head. It was one of the scariest things he'd seen – her eyes had widened and she'd tried to twist but it was already too late. Her head had hit the floor of the dojo, the force sending her reeling back before she'd hit the ground again full force a second time and fell unconscious. That image would probably be haunting his nightmares for a while.

"You knocked yourself out – what were you thinking trying such an advanced kata without supervision?" He sent her a glare, teeth gritted together as his hands clenched.

_'__I was worried. I don't know what would've happened if I hadn't already been watching over you – who knows how long you would've lain there unconscious! You could've- could've...'_

He flinched – the thought of her not with him always made his heart stop.

"I mean, geez Akane. I knew you were a tomboy but I thought not even you could be stupid enough to try something suicidal like that! You're nowhere near good enough to try the Saotome style of midair kata!"

_'__How is it that you can always sent me into such a panic? You were so pale and cold and for a moment it was like we were back in China. I had you in my arms and you weren't moving, weren't responding. You don't know how relieved I was when I noticed you were breathing… But I didn't move quickly enough, couldn't catch you fast enough and you looked like you were d-dead... 'kane, I worry about you all the time. What if next time I won't be there in time to save you?'_

Ranma sighed.

_'__You idiot, why can't you ever tell her that? Akane, I was worried about you. See? Easy, isn't it? Just a couple of words but no, instead you manage to only make her angrier. Well done, Saotome.'_

He turned to Akane, intent on apologising, only to find her warm, brilliant smile directed at him – the one that made his heart beat faster, his blood rush and made him want to do anything in the world as long as she kept looking at him like that.

_'__...so beautiful...'_

If at all possible her smile widened even further and her cheeks flushed slightly. Her head cocked sideways ever so slightly, grin turning mischievous she looked at him.

"Do you always say the opposite of what you think Ranma?"

He flushed. How could he have forgotten? She could read his thoughts! What an idiot he was, though this time it probably saved him from an enraged fiancée.

"Mostly only when I'm around you," he admitted.

Akane's eyes widened before she smiled at him again, pleased, eyes warmly on him with obvious affection.

"So I managed to knock myself out, huh?"

Grinning slightly in embarrassment she sent him a sideways glance.

"Guess I really am a bit of a klutz every now and again. You just make it look so easy, you know. I've seen you do that move about a thousand times and I knew it would be hard but I didn't think I'd fail so spectacularly. You just…"

Shrugging slightly, mouth twisted into a frown at her own admission, she gave her fiancé a glare though there was no real heat behind it.

"When it comes to martial arts you never seem to be capable of anything but success and perfection. It's... daunting. You see a technique used once or twice and next thing I know you'll have it down to pat and possibly improved. It's not fair. I trained hard for years and still do and I know you're probably sweating blood and tears training and learning when I can't see you but sometimes it just seems to come to you so effortlessly. I can't help but be intimidated by it. You have such a natural instinct for the arts, it's hard to match you."

Gaping, Ranma stared at her even though she was determinedly avoiding his eyes by looking up at the sky. Snorting, he finally shook his head and assumed the same pose at her side, eyes looking up.

"You don't ever need to match me, 'kane."

She huffed.

"I'm a martial artist too, you know. You can't just leave me by the side and expect me to play the happy housewife."

Ranma laughed openly at that.

"Now _that's_ one thing I'd never expect you to be."

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"

Smile fading, Ranma shook his head slightly. He knew Akane was primed for another fight with him, having taken his words the wrong way again.

"Not what I meant. Look, all I'm saying is you don't need to match my moves. Have you never noticed how my stances are different for my male and my female form? You have different strength and weaknesses for both not to mention the different balance and defense."

He sighed. It had become obvious to him rather swiftly after being cursed just how different male and female martial artists were though he supposed he did have a rather unique insight into the matter.

"I saw you trying, y'know. You were attempting to copy my male stance but if you did use that it would leave a gap in your defenses on your left side and then you moved too quickly – as a female you'd need to take the third position just a fraction of a second later or you'll plummet to the ground – like you did. Women are quicker but men have that extra burst of strength."

And then he made his fatal mistake – he turned around to look at his fiancée in an attempt to judge just how badly she was taking his words. Her brown eyes were wide and vulnerable and she was biting her lip slightly, looking up at him through her eyelashes.

"Could you- Could you teach me?"

Heart thumping he could only stare and nod to whatever she wanted. It was only when her head shot up and a smile was on her lips that he fully realised what he'd just agreed to.

"Hey- NO! That's unfair, I didn't know what I was agreeing to!"

He watched her lips twist upwards further.

"You didn't know? Whatever do you mean?"

"You know what you did – you did that- that thing with your eyes and your lips."

"Who? Me? Your uncute fiancée?"

Grumbling Ranma shot her another look that clearly stated just how uncute she was and that he wasn't falling for it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Giggling, Akane leaned back against the roof. Laughter fading she enjoyed the momentary peace and quiet, knowing she'd have to broach the dreaded topic shortly.

"Ranma? I just... I wanted to say that I'm sorry for sort of biting your head off earlier when you were apologising. I'm not exactly", she grimaced slightly at her own admission. "the most rational person when I'm sleep deprived. You apologised. It hurt, but I needed to acknowledge that."

She sighed.

"I've known you for over two years now – I know that thanks to your father it's sometimes difficult for you to understand the ramifications of your actions and your words, especially where emotions are concerned. I_ know_ that. But you hurt me. I trust you more than I've ever trusted anyone in my life. It's kind of embarrassing but the amount of faith I have in you – that you'll always come through for me, I just… maybe my expectations are simply too high but in my defense you always seem to achieve the impossible."

Akane moaned slightly.

"Sorry, this seemed much clearer in my head. What I mean is we've always been honest with one another – about what we thought of the engagement, about people, family… I didn't realise until now just how much I've relied on you always telling me the truth."

She sent her fiancé a faint smile, heart still heavy as she looked up into the sky.

"I know your feelings about honours and promises. I wouldn't ask you to break anything like that but could I ask you to make one to me, now? Will you swear to me that if there is anything or anyone whose actions will infringe upon my honour like Ryoga did, that you'll let me know? That you'll be honest with me? If you can't for whatever reason just remind me of this promise and at least I will know to be suspicious of them. Please, Ranma?"

Her heart beat fast. Would he? She needed it, need to hear it from him; that he wouldn't ever take her honour lightly, wouldn't ever betray her like that again. She knew there were reasons and thoughts – or lack of thoughts – for why he'd acted as he had but still. A promise was not something Ranma would ever break, she knew – especially if it was to her.

Their relationship was odd to many people – so many things unsaid but yet she knew that her fiancé would hold a promise to her above anything and anyone else. As if to prove just that, Ranma looked at her, his expression determined and strong.

"I promise on my honour."

She met his blue eyes and found herself captivated.

_'__I won't ever put someone else above you like that again, 'kane.'_

She almost smiled at his thoughts – so alike to her own just moments earlier.

"And I am so sorry. Y'know that I'd never want to hurt you."

Akane smiled softly at her fiancé.

"It's okay. I'm not quite that petty, you know. I won't ask you to apologise for the rest of your life. I haven't forgotten yet but I have forgiven you. I understand why you did what you did. We... We'll be alright, Ranma. We'll work it out – we always do."

An instant later her head shot up to look at the blackhaired boy beside her – though he was determinedly looking off into the distance, a blush on his face. He had carefully placed his hand on top of hers, barely touching. With a smile of her own she interlinked their hands, squeezing his slightly to reassure him that this was okay.

Both teenagers smiled, leaning back on the roof to watch the stars slowly appearing as the daylight faded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kasumi watched in relief as her sister and her soon to be brother-in-law smiled at one another over dinner. Akane's unconsciousness had panicked her at first – though she did appear to have a harder head than it seemed at first sight. There had been no blood, barely even a bump on her – only bruising.

And Ranma probably thought he'd been inconspicuous on the roof, watching over Akane, but both Kasumi and Nabiki had noticed when he'd not come down for lunch. And now it appeared that at least the P-Chan issue was resolved between the two.

If she ever got her hands on the permanently lost boy, she might not be as forgiving as she usually was. Ranma and Akane already had such a hard time with their own feelings without the interference of all the others – for someone else to abuse the tentative trust between them and to take advantage of the freely offered hospitality was upsetting to say the least.

And Genma – he'd missed out on so many vital lessons that the young boy should've learned. The lack of socialisation he'd had when he was younger was easy to see, even now, though he was admittedly improving steadily.

Maybe now that no one could interfere, they would finally become closer. She wished that her sister would finally find the happiness she'd been looking for after two years of struggling.

That reminded her – she hadn't had the chance yet to talk to Akane about the new rules. Nabiki had already been apprised of appropriate behaviour in the future and Kasumi's rather limited tolerance towards her usual tendency to 'stretch' the rules. It had taken a lot of arguments and discussions before Nabiki had seen sense and agreed to fall in line with the rest of them, though she'd stipulated that she might call a family conference in the future to amend these rules for maximum profitability – Kasumi had managed to agree without rolling her eyes too obviously.

"Akane, when you're finished I will need to talk to you."

"Of course, Onee-chan."

The younger girl looked curious before finishing her dinner quickly. If she knew her sister at all then she'd welcome these new rules.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Akane still sat on the stone by the pond frozen, despite the fact that her older sister had already left to clean up the kitchen.

The new rules of the Tendo household were... strict and knowing her sister's current disposition towards rule breakers, punishment would be swift and harsh if any of them disobeyed.

But that wasn't what was bothering her – no, the rules were reasonable. Don't shout, don't jump to conclusions, don't insult... those were all things she had been planning on anyway since the disastrous wedding. She was keen to resolve the differences between her and Ranma and if what her sister had said about none of the other fiancées being welcome here, then it would make this so much easier.

Despite her best intentions, she couldn't help but feel jealous whenever Shampoo threw herself at Ranma or when he ate another one of Ukyo's okonomiyakis – all the while praising her cooking skills. It was hard not to get angry with him for accepting all those tokens of affection from other girls – and that usually resulted in them hurling insults at one another or her sending him off into the distance with a punch.

But if the other fiancées were restricted to school and the outside world instead of intruding on them at night or during breakfast and dinner it would solve so many of their problems. Now she only had to work on her own lack of control and patience, i.e. waiting for Ranma to actually explain the often rather precarious situations he was in.

How often had she labelled him a pervert when he'd actually been forced by their family or sheer bad luck into running into her in some state of undress.

Sighing, she shook her head.

Kasumi had told her that she and Ranma were already on their way to give the 'good news' to the other fiancées – Kasumi as representative of the household they kept intruding on and Ranma, obviously, as the affected party.

Akane had to admit she was rather curious to see how that would work out. None of the girls would likely take this very well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ranma sent a cautious glance at Kasumi.

She'd outdone herself on this one; both of them were wearing formal kimonos with five kamon – their family crests – on the chest, shoulder and back. Kasumi's kimono was perfectly done; it showed her as the head of the family and impressed the formality of the event.

His own kimono though was what had impressed him far more. Carefully chosen mons on Kasumi's part included the Saotome family crest that he was heir to, but more importantly, she had also included a smaller version of the Tendo family crest. It was as clear a statement as possible that he would be marrying into the Tendo clan and would be heir to it as well.

Kasumi had taken the time to lecture him, before they went out, on the different meanings of the crest, the positioning and amount of them, the colours of the kimono and so on. His head was still whirring with all the information she'd supplied yet he couldn't help but be impressed with the tenacity and aloofness the eldest Tendo was displaying.

Shaking his head slightly, he let those thoughts go, reminding himself of what he needed to say to Ukyo – Kasumi had apparently arranged these meetings yesterday already; before he'd even returned home.

Whoever thought Nabiki was the sister to watch out for had obviously never met Kasumi.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ukyo nervously paced the restaurant, Konatsu watching her from the side. She'd put on a semi-formal kimono, uncertain as to what to expect.

Her interactions with Kasumi had always been limited to the occasional visit or the short time when she'd stayed at the Tendo's. The woman had generally seemed quiet and appeared to fade into the background – a typical Japanese housewife; acquiescent, barely ever making eye contact and handling all the problems in the background.

Yet yesterday on the phone she had sounded firm and confident – something that threw the young Restaurant owner more than she'd like to admit.

With a sigh she fixed her door with a dark look. Ten more minutes until the meeting. She would really like to know what this was about but Nabiki had refused to let her know. Settling in for a long, torturous ten minutes she leaned back against her counter, watching and waiting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm sorry – what?"

Kasumi's head tilted sideways and yet she barely blinked before repeating her earlier words.

"I am afraid, Kuonji-san that due to your part in destroying the joyous occasion of the wedding between the Tendo and the Saotome family, as well as the previous instances during which you have harmed either directly or indirectly members of our family, you are no longer welcome at our place of residence. The continuous payments the clan has made to repair the physical damage dealt to our property by your hands has to also be taken into account. As acting head of the Tendo family I am here to inform you that we carry no grievances against you but you are no longer permitted to enter either our house or its grounds."

Ukyo stared – she couldn't help it.

"I- What happened to Soun Tendo?"

There was nary a flinch from Kasumi though Ukyo did see Ranma cringe ever so slightly.

"It is the clan's hope that Soun Tendo will soon recover though he is currently indisposed. His words, past or future, have no bearing on this decision as I am acting head of the Tendo family. Kuonji-san, is there anything else you wish to address?"

Ukyo swallowed. Indisposed? That didn't sound good. Gathering her courage she looked up at Kasumi again.

"What about Ranma? He is my fiancée – his father promised."

Kasumi gave a curt nod.

"Genma Saotome has indeed given his word to your father. However, there is the fact that the Tendo agreement predates your own as well as the fact that your father was aware of a pre-existent engagement with our family and agreed despite this. Ranma lives in our house and he is obligated to live by our rules during this time. As it stands I am certain you will agree with us, Kuonji-san, that Ranma may not marry three women. As such it will be up to him to make a decision at some point in the future in this regard." She smiled warmly at the other woman.

"As I'm certain you can understand my sympathies lie with my sister in this matter as I have no wish for her heart to be broken. However, you will have my word that we will not unduly influence Ranma's opinion of yourself during his stay – we have not done so in the previous years nor would we wish to engage in such dishonourable behaviour at any point in the future. You may see Ranma at school or at any other point that you both agree to meet outside of the Tendo household, but not within it."

Ukyo glared slightly – she didn't like this, not one bit. Kasumi sounded far too reasonable and calm. Ranma was simply sitting there – not saying a word. Maybe they had pressured him?

"He can live with me then, there will be none of these problems. It's proper anyway that he should live with his real fiancée not the uncute tomboy."

For the first time since the meeting began, the atmosphere in the room dropped with the temperature and Kasumi's eyes were icy as they bore into the girl in front of her.

"Kuonji-san, please retract your insults about a member of our clan. These are negotiations and should be conducted in a calm, rational manner. Flinging insults will only demonstrate your own insecurities and emphasise the childish behaviour you've been indulging in."

Gritting her teeth, Ukyo glared at the girl opposite of her. Her? Childish? She was earning her keep – running a restaurant on top of going to school! She was an adult! Turning to Ranma she turned her eyes on him – he had still not said a word.

"Well, Ranma? Are you going to let her talk to your fiancée like that?!"

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Ranma sighed inwardly – he'd known it would come to this sooner or later. Ukyo was nothing if not tenacious – and her inability to admit a mistake was rather similar to his own attitude.

Forcing himself to recall the feelings he'd received from Akane yesterday as well as the way she'd looked at him in the dojo this morning, he steeled his resolve before looking at his childhood friend.

"Ucc- no, Kuonji-san, Tendo-san was correct in her words, as were you. I will not allow my fiancée to be treated this way."

He paused, noticing the gloating smirk she was giving Kasumi. He knew what he had to say next and yet he dreaded the reaction he'd get from her for it.

"Kuonji-san, please apologise for your insults towards my fiancée."

Ranma knew he had to do it but it didn't make him feel any better when she looked at him as if he'd betrayed her, as if he'd hurt her by talking about Akane as his fiancée. He'd known there would be no easy way out of this but hopefully the way Kasumi and him approached it would allow him a measure of peace at home, a better relationship with Akane and at some point in the future maybe he'd even have Ucchan's friendship back.

He watched her fidget, glare and try to find a way around it for a moment before she gave both of them a stiff bow.

"My apologies, Tendo-san, Ranchan, I let my mouth run away with me. I intended no insult to either her or you."

Ranma gave a small nod of acknowledgement, hoping he could leave Kasumi to handle the rest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First hurdle was done, Kasumi nearly smiled in relief but outwardly only allowed her cold countenance to drop slightly as she nodded at the young girl in front of her.

"Thank you, Kuonji-san, for your apology. We accept. Regarding your offer of allowing Ranma to live with you – I'm afraid I cannot accept your offer. I cannot on good conscience allow a young male to live alone with a young female without adult supervision. My apologies, Kuonji-san, but I'm sure you understand the impropriety of the situation wouldn't allow me to make any other judgment with the circumstances such as they are."

So far Ukyo had not said anything Kasumi hadn't already expected – the words were slightly different but the meaning was the same.

Kasumi had always enjoyed formal gatherings and the barbs hidden beneath the polite words. She enjoyed the careful art of hidden meanings in words and steel traps that caught her adversaries unaware.

But this was the first time in a long time that she had the chance to partake in this again. Watching her opponent twist and turn and yet run into dead ends at every turn – having correctly anticipated all her moves in advance just made this all the sweeter.

Ukyo Kuonji flushed and her eyes turned once again to Ranma.

"Are you going to let her speak for you or do you have your own opinion, Ranchan? C'mmon, tell her – you could live with me. I'll make you Okonomiyaki every day."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ranma sighed – he had half expected this question of course but he'd hoped she wouldn't bring it up.

"Ukyo, you are a very good friend to me but like Kasumi said it wouldn't be right me living here with you."

"What – it wouldn't be proper, you mean? Since when do you care about things like that? Tell me, how often have you been alone with Akane?"

Ranma nearly groaned. Trust Ukyo not to give up that quickly – he hated to be harsh but he'd exhausted all his other options.

"No, Ukyo, you're not listening to me. You're my best friend and I still think of you that way," as a boy, Ranma silently added, "I enjoy life at the Tendos. I don't want to live here, Ucchan. This is your dream, your life - not mine. Martial arts isn't just something I do for fun, though I do enjoy it; it's who I am, it's my way of life and I want to keep trying to get better at it for the rest of my life. Ucchan, we'll still see each other at school and everything – just not at the house. C'mmon…"

There was a pause but finally Ukyo admitted defeat, nodding her head in acquiescence.

"I will abide by the rules you have set out, Tendo-san. Please accept my apologies for the property damage and any harm I may have inadvertently caused any members of your clan. I am certain Ranma will make the right choice when the time comes."

Smiling demurely at the young girl, Kasumi nodded.

"I am sure he will. Thank you for your time, Kuonji-san. Please enjoy the rest of your evening."

Standing up the three bowed to one another before leaving the restaurant – one down, two to go.

"You were amazing in there, Kasumi!"

"Oh my, that?" Kasumi sent him a mischievous smile, allowing the fresh air to relax her as she mentally prepared for the far more challenging encounters ahead of them.

"I call it the Anything Goes Martial Art of Debating."

Ranma laughed, hands behind his head as they walked through the quiet streets of Nerima.

"You've got surprisingly hidden depths, Kasumi. I should have never expected any less from the daughter of a master of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts though."

Kasumi lowered her head, allowing herself to become the reserved housewife she had portrayed for almost half her life now, looking up at Ranma though never initiating direct eye contact.

"Oh my, me? No, that wouldn't be proper."

Both chuckled appreciatively for a moment.

"Y'know that Shampoo will be much harder to convince, right?"

"Yes, her and Cologne will be difficult to convince though hopefully I will be able to still persuade both to fall in line with this new development."

Ranma grinned.

"If anyone can do it, it's you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_'__Hey, good news 'kane. Ucchan has agreed – no more demolition of property or surprise visits!'_

Akane giggled.

_'Do I want to know how you managed that? By the way, where are you? I didn't think I'd be able to hear you unless you were close by...'_

_'__Nah, we're nearly at the Cat Cafe actually. I figured if I just thought hard about you, you might be able to hear me.'_

_'__Well, what do you know – even you are right sometimes.'_

_'__Ha-ha, very funny. And just for the record – it was all your sister. Remind me to never, ever make her angry. You're scary enough but she's not someone I'd ever want to fight against.'_

Akane snorted.

_'__Yeah, and I know why, Ranma. You forget, I've lived with her for the last eighteen years. You don't even get as far as a fight – all Kasumi ever needs to do is make that disappointed tsk-ing sound and look at you! Before you know it you're scraping on the floor begging for mercy and doing whatever she wants. Kasumi always pretends to be nice and affable but there's a reason we don't cross her.'_

_'__Yeah, well, remind me of that next time I'm about to put my foot in my mouth.'_

Laughing, Akane looked up at the sky – not noticing Nabiki watching her from the porch and wondering whether her youngest sister had finally lost her marbles.

_'__Done. Now, good luck with Shampoo and Cologne. Please try to come back in one piece!'_

_'__Veery funny, 'kane.'_

_'__I thought so. You'll either be mauled or molested before you come back – question is which do you prefer?'_

_'__Is neither an option?'_

_'__Have you met the Amazons? If neither was an option then you wouldn't be headed there. Oh, I nearly forgot – don't eat or drink anything, who knows what weird old and forgotten secret Amazonian recipes they've discovered lately...'_

_'__Now I know you're just mocking me...'_

_'__Awww, is widdle Ranma hurt?'_

_'__Now, I say this in all politeness, my dearest fiancée – piss off!'_

_'__What, you think swearing will make me run the other way when a demi-god couldn't? You seriously overestimate yourself.'_

_'__Dear god, you just won't shut up, will you? How am I meant to concentrate on facing this if you keep blabbering on in my head? I bet I look like a brainless idiot wandering around – now, get out of my head!'_

_'__What will you do if I refuse to?'_

_''__kane, this is serious!'_

_'__Okay, okay. Geez, sorry, I was just enjoying chatting to you again. Isn't it weird that we can actually carry on almost a normal conversation in our heads? What if we're only imagining this?'_

Akane could almost hear Ranma's groan.

_'__Dear god, you really won't just shut up.' _

A pause and a reluctant sigh from him.

_'__I like talking to you too, 'kane but this really does need to wait. I can't afford any distractions and plus I think Kasumi said something a few moments ago and she looks as though she's actually expecting a coherent answer from me.'_

_'__Okay. Good luck and I'll see you soon. Call if you need backup.'_

_'__From a second rate martial artist like you? Pah, as if.'_

_'__Uh-huh, well how often has this second rate martial artist saved your behind? 'sides, what if there are cats?'_

_'__You don't play by the rules...'_

_'__Sorry, there are rules? And by the way – who was it again that said we needed to stop talking?'_

Akane giggled when there was no further answer from her fiancé. This whole thought-reading thing was definitely making their life infinitely easier. She'd been stewing before – wondering what had happened and it had only taken Ranma a second to let her know before he went into the Cat cafe.

It was such a relief to know that she could contact him if anything went wrong just as he could get in touch with her.

Stretching slightly, Akane walked up to their front entrance – the sight that met her eyes there made her pause.

Nabiki and Ryoga – her sister to her credit was clearly trying to push the lost boy out of their home but it was all too easy for him to resist her efforts. And then both of them noticed her.

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Hi guys, let me know what you think! Shampoo, Cologne and Ryoga in the next chapter! So hopefully a nice cliff hanger to keep things interesting!


	5. Resolutions Part 2

**WARNING: Swearing and violence in this chapter! Maybe a tiny bit of Ryoga and Shampoo bashing?**

A/N: I know I said they'd deal with the Kuno's in this chapter but I'm already up to 12k for this one so I've delayed that until the next one. Sorry guys!

**Big thanks goes out to my beta reader, pursemonger**! She's just written a super new story – in case you haven't read it yet: "Tomboy no more". Read it, it's brilliant stuff!

**And of course thanks to all my reviewers** :) Sorry – I just realised how much my comments were giving away of the next chapter so I've quickly put them all to the end of the chapter – apologies if bits are now not quite right but everyone wanted to discuss Ryoga :(

Anyway, here's the next chapter. ENJOY!

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"Old ghoul."

"Groom."

Kasumi let out a slight tsk-ing sound and Ranma sighed resignedly, before revising his earlier statement.

"Sorry, did I say old ghoul? What I meant to say was,Elder Cologne, what a pleasure to see you here tonight."

A slight cackle came from the old woman.

"Ranma Saotome, I have been looking forward to this."

"You have?"He managed to somehow sound both skeptical and wary but the eldest Tendo spoke up, stopping him from insulting the Amazon further.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet with us, Elder Cologne."

The old woman's grin disappeared only to be replaced by a solemn look and she returned the formal bow Kasumi had issued her. This time Ranma complied immediately with the unspoken request and bowed as well.

"Follow me."

Cologne led them to the back room where Shampoo and Mousse were already waiting, dressed semi-formally.

Ranma gave both curt nods of acknowledgement before taking his seat next to Kasumi. He glanced at the Elder and saw her calculating look –he'd noticed earlier she'd been inspecting the kamons on his kimono. It wasn't hard to extrapolate from there that the old witch had understood the significance of what they were conveying.

"This day has been a long time coming, son-in-law."

Kasumi smiled serenely and nodded her assent.

"Indeed it has. You know then, why we're here?"

"Not with certainty but I can make an educated guess."

Before either Cologne or Kasumi could continue their conversation, Shampoo jumped in.

"Airen here to marry Shampoo, yes?"

To Ranma's surprise Cologne smirked slightly at her great-granddaughter's words. Kasumi, like everyone else, chose to ignore the other girl's outburst and instead addressed the Amazon elder directly.

"Elder Cologne, over the last two years you and members of your tribe have attempted to kill, assault, kidnap, poison, coerce, drug, incapacitate or otherwise harm members of the Tendo family and their guests. We have repeatedly offered you hospitality and found it abused, our property damaged and have received unwanted illicit late night visits by members of your tribe. Honour is as paramount to us as it is to you and we can understand the motivations of the Joketsuzoku but you have gone too far in your endeavours to fulfill your laws and restore your great-granddaughter's honour. At this point in time we bear no grudge against you as you have also given us and our guest your help in times of dire need; however we ask that you respect our demands. Due to previous altercations I politely request that your tribe desists from visiting our family home, its dojo and its grounds until such a time as we invite you to share in our hospitality again. You would be welcome to meet Ranma or Akane at school or on outings, should that be your wish."

"Bu-But –Airen!" Shampoo seemed to be almost speechless in the face of a stern and forbidding Kasumi. Mousse was smiling widely and at Ranma's look gave him an apologetic shrug.

Cologne's staff hit her great-granddaughter over the head to everyone's surprise. Then the elder cackled.

"That's not what I was expecting to hear. Well, well, well. What do you know? You younglings are _always_ good for a surprise. Before I met son-in-law I hadn't had this much fun in decades. Now, regarding your request–what about my great-granddaughter, Shampoo? She has given your guest the kiss of marriage. Will she be allowed to see the man who is rightfully hers?"

Kasumi smiled gently, eyes sparkling. Ranma noted that it looked as if Cologne knew exactly what the eldest Tendo would be saying before the words ever left her mouth.

"She is, of course, welcome to arrange meetings with our guest outside of our family home. But she would not be welcome to visit him when he's at home, especially not to stay the night if that is what you were referring to, elder. Should you wish to push this, I would be forced to enquire about the kisses of death you issued to not only our guest but also the youngest daughter of our family. And of course we would need to have our lawyer verify the legitimacy of your great-granddaughter issuing a kiss of marriage on non-Amazon grounds, for accidentally being knocked out during an unprovoked attack –not an official challenge. And then there would be the issue of comparing that claim to a pre-existing engagement made before birth between our family and Saotome family."

Ranma was well aware that he was staring but he couldn't help it. Out of the corner he noticed that Shampoo was worse off than he was –mouth gaping, eyes wide she alternately looked between Cologne and Kasumi. Even Mousse seemed taken aback while Kasumi looked as serene as ever, smiling softly, no sign of the fact that she had basically just challenged the Amazons.

_'__I really, really need to remember to never, ever piss Kasumi off, no matter what... And I thought she was scary at Ukyo__'__s!__'_

Cologne guffawed after another moment of silence.

"The Elder's council always did wonder about whether it really was worth our while to send one of our best warriors and an elder to pursue a young man who never even challenged the claim's legitimacy –though admittedly his martial arts skill would have made up for anything he lacked in brains."

Her smile was wicked and Ranma responded before he could stop himself. "HEY! You-"

Kasumi's calm hand on his arm halted him long enough for her to talk in his stead.

"Elder Cologne, your precise words were'would have made up'. Are you implying that you are giving up your claim?"

Eyes wide, realization setting in, the Saotome heir whirled back around to look at the old ghoul in astonishment. Was she really saying what Kasumi was suggesting? Would he finally have one less pursuer?

The older woman looked speculatively at the eldest Tendo sister, a small grin quirking at her lips as she shook her head softly in incredulity.

"You would have made an amazing Amazon, Kasumi Tendo. I was under the impression that this was the matter you were coming to discuss today, in fact. Before I can make a decision on behalf of our tribe and my great-granddaughter I will need to talk to your guest –with your permission?"

The eldest Tendo nodded in consent.

"You may. However, it will be up to Ranma whether or not he wishes to answer your questions."

_'__What? Resolve this entire mess right now with a couple of questions or have Shampoo follow me like a long lost puppy for the rest of my life? Hell yeah, I__'__ll answer some questions.__'_

"Ask away."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He watched the old ghoul –she looked uncharacteristically serious. Usually she'd have that glint in her eyes, the one that told him she was planning something, but this time she was almost solemn as her eyes met his.

"Our tribe would be very grateful if you could tell us the full details of everything that took place in China."

Now Ranma was really confused. He'd half-expected to be asked about his feelings for Akane –murky situation if there ever was one –or his intentions with Shampoo –those at least would've been pretty clear. But China…? Why would the old ghoul want to know about that?

"What are you up to? Both Mousse and Shampoo were there. What more do you want to know?"

The old Amazon chuckled.

"You mean the half-blind duck was there and my great-granddaughter, neither of which have reason to embellish or downplay any of their parts in this to an elder? Not to mention the fact that Shampoo was under mind control and separate from your group for a large part of your adventure."

Blinking slightly, Ranma had to acknowledge the truth in her words at least somewhat.

"So why is your tribe so interested?"

"Well, sonny boy, I don't know if you noticed,"the old woman drawled sarcastically, "but Saffron managed to _vaporize_ several mountain tops with one of his attacks. Suffice to say, had he decided to come after the Amazons we would have been hard pressed to give him serious opposition. We have skilled warriors –but Shampoo is one of our best and she couldn't even handle his minions. You, on the other hand, have managed to defeat him. Not only would any knowledge we could glean from you about him help in any future attacks once he's reached his maturity again but…Well, let's just say that if you were not to marry into the tribe you could be a serious enemy should you ever decided to fight us or seek dominion over our territory."

Ranma snorted. Him? Wanting land in China and be surrounded by even more Amazons? Yeah –thanks, but no thanks.

"Old gh-"A cough from Kasumi. Ranma sighed.

"What I meant to say, _Elder Cologne,_ was that I definitely don't want any part of your land or anything to do with your tribe. Well,"he amended slightly "beyond those you are already forcing me to interact with."

The old Amazon chuckled.

"Ah, it's very rare for you to show me the respect I deserve, son-in-law.", she became serious again "The issue is not what you say you might do or might not do. The problem is that you _could_. Amazons are no fools. And we do need to keep an eye on you after that latest display of strength. So, what is your decision?"

Ranma glared but then chuckled slightly –he'd never thought Cologne would ever pay him such a high compliment (even if it was more of a backhanded one). And the old ghoul had said her tribe would be indebted to him (in a very roundabout way), so it would surely be easy enough to annul this kiss of marriage after he'd explained China, right?

He grimaced slightly –he still hated remembering any part of that entire escapade. The first time when he'd only had her clothes and been led to believe her entire body had vaporized and then the second timewhen he'd held her cold, still body in his hands –no heart beat, no breathing, no smile. No Akane.

"Fine, but you had better have all the kisses annulled for this. And I won't ever repeat this, _ever_ again."

Face twisted into a blank mask, eyes cold and hard, he remembered how it had all begun.

"Another one of our fathers'ploys had just gone awry and I was on the roof courtesy of Akane's punch."

His lips quirked into a small smile, remembering his fiancée sitting there in the traditional Japanese wedding kimono, looking stunningly beautiful –well, until she'd woken up and tore strips into her dad and later him. Though that had been a different kind of stunning, he thought wickedly, because her right hook had certainly stunned him.

Knocking her unconscious, really! Their family had been getting more and more out of hand with their schemes. He was actually kind of glad that Kasumi had ended up putting her foot down yesterday; with any luck the old man and Akane's dad would actually change. Although he wasn't too hopeful about his own father; reality had long since taught him that if his dad wasn't capable of learning through near-death experiences he was unlikely to do so just because life was suddenly a little bit harder.

Shaking his head, Ranma recalled what had started off the whole thing.

"And that's when I saw what looked like a huge flock of crows heading after a young girl. She later turned out to be Plum, the daughter of the Jusenkyo guide…"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kasumi remained silent, listening to Ranma's words. She had heard bits and pieces about this –partly because she'd been there for the beginning and partly because her youngest sister had opened up to her a few days ago. But Akane hadn't known half of it –she'd been in Japan, in doll form and even now Ranma's anguish was clear to see when he described the moments he'd thought he'd lost her. Of course he didn't even vaguely allude to the horror he must've felt when he'd heard about the spring of the drowned Akane or when she'd had her eyes closed and he'd thought he'd lost her. Genma had taught his son well –he still believed that men should not show any emotions.

But Kasumi saw the way his hands clenched briefly, saw the way he flexed his jaws, closed his eyes for just a moment too long to be blinking. She saw –she always did. That was her job in the family –to know before they themselves knew what they felt. She anticipated their needs and wants –and Ranma was a part of her family. And at the moment he was horrified, scared, lost and very much in pain. But right here, right now, she couldn't help him. Not in front of these people –here was not the place to allow his weaknesses to show.

Having gotten to know the man who was supposed to marry into their family quite well over the last two years, she could say with almost certainty that he blamed himself for his inability to protect her sister. She'd have to talk to Akane about that –while his worry was sweet just now, in the long run it would not only damage their future relationship but also affect Ranma negatively.

It really was amazing what these two had gone through in the last two years together. Even on those occasions where the disaster had unrolled itself right before her eyes, in their home, it still seemed surreal. She still remembered a time when her biggest worry had been if she could manage to cook both the dinner and hang up the laundry in time before it would start to rain.

Now rain brought the implications of cold water, curses and people turning into other genders, ducks, pandas, cats or monsters like Taro. Suddenly, magic was real and martial artists weren't just a word for fighting but she'd been exposed to fine dining martial arts, ice skating martial arts, food-related martial arts –it was insanity.

That's why she was doing this, taking these steps, going outside her own comfort zone. Because her family needed her. And family was everything to the Tendos.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mousse stared and unwillingly found the respect he'd already had for his longstanding rival grow even further.

Ranma did seem to have a remarkable ability to land himself in the most outlandish situations which, at first glance, seemed to have only one possible explanation –such as when they had overheard him asking Shampoo to show her breasts to him.

Mousse had been furious with the other boy, thinking that not only was Ranma taking advantage of the subjugated Amazon but he was also abandoning the youngest Tendo, even though the girl had gone out of her way to save him and nearly died. After fighting him back in Mt. Phoenix he'd finally realised Ranma had only ever been after the eggs Shampoo had hidden in her brassiere, but there had been no time to get the entire story. Unlike now –having heard the entire scenario slowly unravel was baffling; his rival had taken the only way available to him that would save both girls and him even if it would be a rather difficult situation to explain at a later date.

It was rather impressive how easy it was to mistake those circumstances for something far more illicit. Just like that time when both he and Ryoga had burst in on Ranma with what had looked like Akane (though he'd later found out it was actually Kiima), nude, in the bathroom. If Shampoo ever offered herself like that to him, Mousse was nearly certain that his first thought would not be about how out-of-character that behaviour was for her. And yet Ranma had seen his fiancée entirely naked and –from what he understood –offering herself to him and he'd resisted.

He didn't like Ranma –far from it –but for the first time he not only sympathized with him but he actually admired him. He'd fought ferociously, risked everything, nearly died and actually _killed _someone for Akane. He'd gone far and further than Mousse ever had in his pursuit for Shampoo.Oh, he'd talked about killing Ranma but he'd never actually been forced to act upon his words. His rival, on the other hand, had strained and struggled, fought until the bitter end and despite the odds he'd stood back up and gone out there and faced a demi-god he shouldn't have had a hope of beating. And all that for the sake of a girl he only traded insults with and that regularly beat him up.

Huh, he'd never thought of the other girl like that before –in that respect their relationship seemed awfully similar to his and Shampoo's; with the exception that Ranma insulted Akane right back.

But then, unlike in his and Shampoo's relationship –or lack thereof –Akane appeared to reciprocate the affection, or whatever was between those two. During the nearly two years since he'd first fought with Ranma, he'd noticed on multiple occasions how the blue haired girl had gone out of her way to aid her fiancé. Not only that, she'd risked her life for his on more instances than he could recall. And it looked like she'd done so again in China.

That begged the question –if Ranma was willing to go that far for Akane and she was willing to risk everything for him, did they feel as he felt for Shampoo? Was Ranma now finally not part of the equation anymore?

Though even if he wasn't, Mousse now knew that Shampoo was unlikely to give up on him. She'd refused to give up when she'd been invited to their wedding –you couldn't make a more serious declaration of intent or love and yet she hadn't wanted to listen, to believe and had turned up with meat dumpling-explosives to use on Akane.

In retrospect, Mousse was kind of glad that despite everything the explosives had ended up on Ranma –and not just because he was his rival. Now, after hearing everything about China –including Shampoo's threat to kill Akane - he wasn't sure if his rival would have been as forgiving of the girl had she actually managed to harm Akane on their wedding day.

He didn't know what it was Cologne had planned for Ranma and Kasumi –though, to be fair, he rarely ever anticipated the old woman's plans –but he could only hope that it would end up with the kiss of marriage from Shampoo being dissolved.

He loved her and he still held out hope that at some point in the future she'd reciprocate the feelings he had for her. But even if Shampoo were to never love him, he still wouldn't want her hounding Ranma for the rest of her life. He greatly suspected his rival had made his choice –and Shampoo would not be happy when she found out it wasn't her. Even worse, he hoped she didn't fall back into the 'kill obstacles'mindset because even if Ranma did not in fact love Akane the way he loved Shampoo, his rival had already proven on too many occasions just_ how_ protective he was of the youngest Tendo.

As usual, Mousse decided to remain quiet and not share his thoughts –Shampoo would never listen anyway and he suspected that Cologne already knew. He stayed where he was and observed –watching his rival's body language as well as the Elders. Men in their tribe were not usually allowed to speak their thoughts as freely as he'd been permitted to do here in Japan and Mousse had learnt a lot. Men, more often than not, were almost invisible –especially him. He'd become remarkably good at it and learnt far more than the other Amazons gave him credit for by simply remaining silent and listening to them rant, watching what their bodies were saying when the words didn't match.

And this –this was important. Something was happening and everything was on the verge of changing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shampoo stared, stunned, at the spectacle unfolding in front of her eyes. When great-grandmother had said her Airen was coming over with the oldest Tendo, she'd presumed it was to give up their claim, finally admitting just how much better a real woman would be for Ranma rather than the violent girl.

So she'd taken the time to get ready. After a lot of deliberation and some judgements on Mousse's part (completely speechless, eyes bugged out and speechless, babbling gibberish –all different stages from 'stunning'up to 'a bit too dazzling'), she'd selected a semi-formal dress. It was conservative enough for the greeting but once she'd sit down –opposite of her Ranma of course –the side slit would split, giving him a nice glimpse of her soft, creamy, smooth thighs. And the dress would hug her figure perfectly, showing off her ample bosom, slim waist and curvaceous body–just to emphasise to her Airen he was making the right choice, of course.

But somehow, nothing had gone to plan.

Though, admittedly, since living in Nerima none of her plans had ever really worked the way she'd intended them to –maybe they were living on cursed grounds? Dismissing the thought for later discussion with her great-grandmother, she focused back on the proceedings.

Cologne had not only rapped her over the head for her interruption earlier but had also made it rather clear that she thought her suggestion that Ranma and that housewife were here for anything even remotely related to fulfilling the kiss of marriage was ridiculous.

Shampoo had never handled it well when her pride had been injured, but this time it was her Elder –so she'd quieted, though mutinously she'd thought Ranma would show them all. He would certainly agree to marry her and she'd return home with the strongest male at her feet; everyone would admire her and she would've once again proven just how much better she was to all the other women in the village.

Up until then she had been able to ignored how much control the pervert girl's sister had over her Airen–she'd tsk'd and he'd immediately started being polite to Cologne; a respectful Ranma –at least when faced with the Amazon elder –was unheard of. But it hadn't mattered, she thought, because while the housewife was unfailingly polite to everyone –even enemies –she had no backbone.

And then she had started speaking. Suddenly Shampoo remembered her name –Kasumi.

Gone was the compliant almost submissive housewife she remembered; in her stead was what could only compare to an Amazon. A woman who knew her place in the world –and it was at the very top. She'd challenged them, Shampoo abruptly realised –she'd stared directly at them, held eye contact, back straight and head held proudly. There had been no hesitation, no sign of weakness or meekness.

And for a split second a part of Shampoo had felt a slight amount of pride on behalf of this woman; after all, that's the entire culture her tribe was built on. That women should take the lead instead of submitting to males. But they all learned martial arts, learned to defend themselves –Kasumi didn't. She had no martial arts training or knowledge –to challenge two experienced fighters –three, if one counted Mousse –was foolishness. At least that's what she'd thought.

And that's when her great-grandmother acquiesced; well, not quite but Shampoo knew that tone of voice, knew what Cologne was saying even if she hadn't done so outright yet.

There would be no fight, Shampoo realised as she sat there in stunned silence. All they were intending to do was talk –Kasumi would not be challenged on her claims or assertions. And her great-grandmother had as good as admitted that Shampoo's claims on her Airen would be voided.

Well, she wouldn't allow it. She'd remain quiet for now, listen to what was being said, but she wouldn't allow them to leave like this. Ranma was her Airen–hers alone. He didn't belong with the violent perverted girl, the chef that dressed up as a boy or the poisonous flower girl. Her body was that of a woman, her cooking was far superior and her fighting skills far outclassed the other girls.

Shampoo didn't understand why Airen had let this go on for as long as it had –she was clearly far superior in_ everything_ to the other _girls,_ she thought derisively. She, on the other hand, was a woman. And Ranma was the only one worthy being seen by her side –not that stupid Mousse. Unlike her childhood friend, her Airen was strong and she just knew he belonged to her. By the end of this night, she would make sure that everyone knew it and acknowledged it.

Even she could hear that there was no emotion in his voice when he talked about violent girl's almost death –that just proved that she was right.

Ranma belonged to was sure she could make him see that and…well, if anyone opposed - obstacles are for killing. Ducking her head to hide her smile, Shampoo pretended to listen as Ranma recapitulated all the events that had taken place in China.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cologne suppressed another sigh –she knew her great-granddaughter better than most people and of her unwillingness to accept what was right in front of her face. Loss of pride, loss of face, to Shampoo were cardinal sins. But surely even she had to see at this late stage into the game just how fruitless her efforts had been so far?

Obviously not.

It wasn't as if she couldn't understand why here great-granddaughter was so persistent. She had to admit that even at her age, life was good for a surprise or two every now and then –especially ever since she'd moved to Japan and met Ranma. Never before had she seen someone so intuitive in the arts.

Shampoo was good, as was Mousse –but they learnt it, perfected it, worked at it relentlessly. Their pride propelled them forward when the bruises sent them to the ground. Son-in-law –though she probably wouldn't be able to continue calling him that after tonight –lived and breathed the arts in a way she'd never seen before. His life and everything he did revolved around martial arts.

She'd seen people dedicate their life to learning martial arts but even they didn't turn all their everyday chores into a training exercise. And she doubted that most martial artists would accomplish in eighty years what Ranma had in eighteen.

He had an unparalleled instinct for it, an intuition that simply couldn't be taught. All he had to do was see the technique once or twice and then before you knew it he would've taken your thousands of years old technique, improved it, perfected it and developed variants of it. It was incredible, astonishing and the very reason why she'd encouraged Shampoo all this time, why she, an elder, had left her tribe for two years now to live in another country; she used to want Ranma –need Ranma to be a part of their tribe.

His addition would not only grant them dominion over other warriors and halt the government from trying to encroach on their territory but he was also likely to sire some very gifted children. With him as part of their tribe they would be practically unbeatable, especially once he'd been taught all of their secret techniques.

But that had been before…Before he fought and won, no, _killed_ a demi-god. Before he'd shown her and the world just how far he was willing to go for Akane. Now he'd also told her how he'd adapted his tactics and techniques in a split second, had created new ways of winning, new ways of fighting –all during the heat of battle. He'd used a tool he had only had hold of for a day –and he won. He'd risked everything; he had nearly killed himself –freezing to death or burning to death and the girl…

Cologne shook her head, amazed. The girl, drained of all the water in her body, had managed to take the heat from Saffron's attack and used it to unfreeze herself rapidly. Then she'd propelled herself forward to give Ranma a fighting chance–and she doubted he would have said out loud what he was planning, so even as a miniature doll she'd known, somehow, what it was he intended to do and had helped him accomplish it.

The implications were staggering. Two people who had risked everything for one another, including their lives. And she could see easily that it had left its mark on the boy –whether that was due to being forced to kill or due to thinking he'd failed to save his fiancée, she wasn't sure.

No, the council of the Elders had to hear this –even with only the preliminary reports coming in they had already made the decision. Unless Ranma came absolutely, one hundred percent willingly, there was no way the Amazons wanted him anywhere near their village –or even China as a whole. They had no illusions; the Amazons had exceptional warriors and given time and woman power they would be able to overwhelm Ranma eventually should he decide to wage war against them for whatever reason. But the sheer amount of people they would lose if they were to fight would be astronomical –and would make the entire initial reasoning pointless. They would be left nearly defenseless and no one was willing to risk losing their greatest warriors. Not even for someone of Ranma's caliber.

She vaguely wondered whether Shampoo had ever actually had a chance. Cologne had always noticed the attraction between what should have been her son-in-law and the youngest Tendo –it wasn't something you could miss. But the constant fights had even fooled her to an extent –for quite some time she had actually believed that Shampoo could potentially convince him to come along with them.

Cologne sighed –surprisingly, considering who it was that had raised the boy, Ranma had ignored Shampoo's attempts to seduce him with a frightening consistency and never shown sign of even being tempted to give in; well, other than his temptation to run in the opposite direction. His only downfall had always been his ego –especially when it came to the broach, when he had wanted Shampoo to confess her love to him out of sheer male pride. Foolish boy.

But then again, if he had no flaws he would be a truly scary martial artist. As it was he had a lot of them holding him back. But then again he had repeatedly demonstrated he was quite capable of turning his weaknesses into strengths when the situation called for it. Yes, truly a frightening opponent and an invaluable ally to have at his young age. Age and maturity would only serve to strengthen him further –she hoped to live long enough to see his skills surpass her own one day.

Well, Cologne could only hope that Shampoo would take the rejection with some dignity and, most importantly, accept it. Knowing Ranma though he'd never be able to say the words outright and her great-granddaughter would keep following him.

She'd need to get word to her tribe soon to end this farce. The kiss of marriage needed to be dissolved, officially, so that Shampoo could return to China without fear of repercussions.

It looked as though for once she'd be in Ranma's corner without any ulterior motives. How intriguing. But then again, life always seemed to take on an interesting twist around that boy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He hated it, hated it, hated it.

A part of him wanted to never remember it, push it aside as just another one of their adventures, even though he knew that this last time everything had been different. Akane had always managed to somehow scare him to death; in one way or another she seemed to end up in life threatening situations without fail.

At one point he'd actually checked all the dates things happened and referenced the weekdays, just on the off chance that Akane was cursed to always get kidnapped on Tuesdays or always on the 16th and 23rd of every month. And maybe death threats happened on a Friday, with Engagements or love declarations from lunatics on Saturdays. Of course no such pattern had emerged.

So there was no schedule, no discernable way to foretell when he needed to be extra careful of another heart-rending moment where he could lose everything in one fell swoop. If Akane ever died again…he didn't want to think about it. Those moments in China had been hard enough. If it wouldn't be so counterproductive he'd strangle his fiancée for always getting into trouble. And she said he was the chaos magnet –it was obvious to him at least, that she'd not paid close enough attention during last few years.

Shaking those thoughts off, Ranma watched as everyone sat silently lost in their own thoughts after he'd finished recounting what had happened in his fight against Saffron.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Thank you, Ranma."

The boy paused momentarily before nodding at Cologne.

"As elder of the Joketsuzoku we accept your proposal, Kasumi Tendo. Shampoo, Mousse or I will not enter the Tendo dojo, house or grounds unless it is with your express invitation."

Kasumi smiled graciously.

"Thank you very much, Elder Cologne. May I ask about the kiss of marriage?"

The elder chuckled, but her eyes were steadily fixed on Ranma's.

"Ah yes, the kiss of marriage. Tell me, sonny boy, are there any circumstances under which you would consider marrying my great-granddaughter?"

Exhaling loudly, Ranma smiled wryly at the old Amazon and took a gamble.

"What, like you don't know already."

He saw Cologne's face twist into an answering smirk and he knew it that moment that she did indeed know that he'd already chosen. Well, one down…

"Now, groom, this is not for my benefit. There are some people who will not understand unless they hear it from you directly."

His eyes narrowed at her before glancing at both Mousse and Shampoo. The boy at least seemed to appreciate what they were talking about while the purple haired girl only frowned. Ranma sighed.

Maybe Cologne wasn't that far off the mark with her words but there was no way he'd make a love declaration in front of them. Mousse embarrassed himself often enough that way.

"I can't think of any way that you could get me to marry her."

That was, of course, a blatant lie. If they involved Akane he was pretty sure there were some schemes they could potentially come up with which would end up with him and the Amazon together – however temporarily.

To his surprise, Mousse simply remained quiet. Usually whenever someone attacked Shampoo's desirability as either woman or a wife, he'd attack them. Ironically, he also attacked them when they were attracted to her. At Ranma's questioning look the other boy simple shook his head gently to his confusion.

"What? But Shampoo much better-"The purple haired girl shut up when her great-grandmother rapped her over the head with her stick again.

"Shampoo, be quiet. I am talking. You will listen and be silent."

Cologne shook her head at the slight pout on the girl's lips. Japan had made her weak –it would never have occurred to her before to pout at the words of an elder directed at her before. Their society was a strict one and so were its punishments. Well, she supposed that could be dealt with once they were back in China –now was certainly not the time.

"Eld-"

Kasumi stopped herself when she felt Ranma's hand on her shoulder. He shook his head minutely, eyes flicking over to Cologne. The eldest Tendo hesitated only for a brief second before acquiescing. It was clear that this needed to be sorted now rather than later.

"Ranma, how would you react if we followed the letter of our law?"

Frowning slightly the pigtailed martial artist cocked his head sideways.

"The letter of your law?"

Cologne smirked slightly, studying him and Shampoo, eager to see how he'd react and then, more importantly, how her great-granddaughter would handle Ranma's reply.

"To paraphrase Shampoo 'Obstacles are for killing'."

Almost immediately the martial artist straightened, his eyes narrowed and his fists clenched slightly. It took Cologne a moment to realise that he'd moved his body so he could fight any of them at a moment's notice. Impressive –she had been barely aware of any movements on his part. Ranma's blue eyes had become glacial and she could feel the temperature in the room drop rapidly as his battle aura was just shy of emerging.

"I don't think you'll like my answer to that question, old ghoul."

For once Kasumi didn't reprimand him for not using the proper title. Ranma's voice was icy but he didn't allow any of his anger show beyond that, eyes still intent on the elder.

When she simply smirked, he glared at her before glancing at the other two Amazons in the room, silently assessing and judging them. Instead of lingering on them his eyes focused back on Cologne, dismissing both Shampoo and Mousse as low level threats should the Amazons dare to challenge him.

"I would kill you before you could lay a finger on her. And the same goes for anyone else who threatens my fiancée. I _will_ kill you before you get the chance to try. It's not a joke, empty words or a threat. _That__'__s a promise_. You have all seen or heard what I'm capable of, what I did to Saffron."His eyes glanced across all three, face set in a firm mask, conveying the intensity and the truth behind his words even without word. "_Threaten Akane and you__'__ll be dead before you can take a step_."

To Ranma's surprise, Cologne's chuckle ripped him out of the red haze of anger he'd been under. He stared at her, feeling his shoulder relax ever so slightly when he noticed it was not a dismissal of his threat but rather an acknowledgement of it.

Shampoo was alternating between glaring at him and fluttering her eyelashes in an attempt to sway him towards her. He barely refrained from rolling his eyes.

"You have nothing to worry about, sonny boy. We won't harm your precious fiancée."

Almost on command Ranma blushed. He knew what he'd said but that had been in the heat of the moment –in defense of her, always her. Somehow he frequently ended up saying things like this when someone dared to threaten Akane. He hadn't intended for it to sound so…_Oh god, shoot him now._

Cologne simply laughed harder and even Kasumi giggled at his embarrassment when he hid his face in his hands.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"As the only elder in Japan I intend to hereby dissolve the kiss of marriage between Shampoo and Ranma Saotome. He has proved to my satisfaction that he would under no circumstances be willing to marry her and that removing any women that stand in our way will not work to our benefit. Mousse, as member of the Joketsuzoku tribe, will you bear witness to the dissolution of the kiss of marriage?"

Mousse, glasses for once on his face, nodded solemnly.

"I will bear witness."

Cologne acknowledged him with a sharp nod before turning back to Kasumi.

"And will you, Kasumi Tendo, as the only current adult representative and as host of Ranma Saotome, bear witness to the dissolution in his parents stead?"

Kasumi's voice was firm as she responded, eyes meeting the elder's in approval.

"I will."

"Before we proceed any further - are there any objections?"

"I object, Elder Cologne."

To no-one's surprise the voice belonged to Shampoo.

"Very well, child. As the affected party please bring your concerns to us for judgment."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The purple haired girl jutted her chin forward, narrowed her eyes and looked haughtily at Ranma and the old Amazon.

"Shampoo is much better wife too than violent girl, insane flower girl or the one that dresses like boy. Shampoo is real woman –can cook, fight and-"

Cologne merely waved her hand dismissively but her eyes were narrowed and her voice was sharp as she replied, making Mousse instinctively flinch as he'd been subjected to that particular stare multiple times before.

"This is an elder you are addressing, child. Have you got any objections that would invalidate Ranma Saotome's earlier statements? If not, keep your mouth shut and your head down, girl, unless you want to be punished for questioning your elder."

Shampoo stared at her great-grandmother, aghast. She knew she'd been pushing the boundaries somewhat, but Cologne hadn't seemed to care that much about propriety and rules since they moved to Japan. It was still a startling realization to have just how lax she'd gotten in her behaviour –she hadn't needed to be reprimanded like that in public since she was ten years old.

Flushing dully, the purple haired girl tried to think fast. There must be something, some sort of sign that Ranma chose her over the other two fiancées and that lunatic. She recalled the run for the hot springs –Ranma had chosen her then…but it had been chance not choosing her as a bride or a partner. He'd even worked side by side with the violent girl half-way through. No, that wouldn't do.

After another few moments of frantically searching her memory, Shampoo was forced to concede that to her surprise there were no examples –nothing that would convince her great-grandmother at least. Some circumstantial moments where Ranma had chosen her, but she knew those would simply be dismissed by Cologne.

There was…nothing. He had never acknowledged her as superior to the other girls. The rejection stung more than Shampoo would like to admit. She was superior to the others, surely…but then why? What did they have that she didn't?

Holding back tears that her pride wouldn't allow to fall in the presence of the very man who had rejected her, she slowly lowered her head until she was staring at her own hands crossed in her lap. It was a clear sign of defeat for her great-grandmother who released the breath she'd been holding.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Then with my powers as elder the kiss of marriage between Ranma Saotome and the Amazon warrior Shampoo is hereby dissolved. No future kisses of death or of marriage may be issued to him by anyone of the Joketsuzoku."

There was a momentary silence after Cologne's words before Ranma spoke up.

"What, that's it?"

The elder laughed.

"What did you expect, sonny boy? Three hundred pages worth of contract?"

"Well, no. It's just…After all this time, this seems a bit too easy. You always seemed so obsessed with the idea. I find it hard to believe it'd be over just like that, with a couple of words. What's your angle?"

Cologne almost laughed –Ranma was unusually suspicious of her. Though, admittedly, he might have a point with all the times they had successfully pulled the wool over his eyes until it was too late –or at least almost too late.

"Believe it or not, there is no angle this time. You defeated the demi-god Saffron. You have made a lot of people high up very, very nervous in doing so, including the Chinese government. Instead of demanding anything in return for your services –which is something everyone can understand and accept - you were content to simply return back to Japan. Now everyone is in limbo because you have done all of us a huge favour, not asked for anything in return and therefore haven't declared any of your intentions or alliances. No one is sure quite what to make of you, sonny boy. And that makes you a potentially very serious threat."

Cologne chuckled at Ranma's flabbergasted expression. She'd known it was unlikely to have occurred to him –he never seemed to be aware of the wider implications beyond the fight. To him, Saffron had challenged him personally and he'd probably seen it as his duty at first and then, once his fiancée was involved, as a personal matter. He would've never considered what other people thought of in regards to him defeating someone they'd been afraid of.

"That is not someone that even the Joketsuzoku are willing to force or otherwise coerce –that would be like putting the wolf right into the middle of a flock of sheep. Our tribe has decided to adopt a live and let live policy in regards to you. After they have heard the details you have told me today, I will make sure that it will be enforced. No one from our tribe will pursue either you or your fiancée. The punishment for going against a ruling such as this one would be death."

Ranma stared at her in surprise before shrugging slightly to Kasumi. The eldest Tendo nodded and took over again.

"Thank you very much for all your aid in this matter as well as your clarification, Elder Cologne. You have proven to be invaluable during today's discussions."

"I assure you that the pleasure was all mine." Cologne's wicked smirk made sure no one doubted that statement for even a second.

"Well, thank you very much, Elder Cologne. Shampoo, Mousse, pleasure to see you again. Kasumi, I'll be outside for a bit of fresh air."

Bowing courteously under Kasumi's strict eyes, Ranma gave a short nod to all three before hopping out of the Cat caféat maximum speed. He'd never felt quite so claustrophobic before.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

God, that had been hellish. Some fresh air might help before he'd have to meet with Kuno and Kodachi. In some ways it had gone better but also much worse than he'd expected. Rolling his shoulders in the hope of releasing some of the tension that had gathered there during the meeting he stared up at the stars.

It took him another moment before he felt calm enough to acknowledge the other boy who'd followed him out.

"Mousse."

"Ranma."

"So, whatcha want? Cause if you're here to have a fight I'll have to say no for once in my life. Kasumi scares me one heck of a lot more than you do."

Mousse chuckled slightly.

"Yeah, I can see how. I think there is a reason why our tribe is working so well and it's not the strength of our warriors. We have got a few leaders like Tendo-san. You just don't cross them, _ever_."

Relaxing, Ranma leaned back against the tree beside the other boy, sniggering. Noticing the other boy's curious look he quieted down.

"What's up Mousse?"

"I've been wondering…what are your feelings for Akane?"

Blushing, the pigtailed boy raised his eyebrows, challenging the Chinese boy.

"And what business is that of yours?"

"None…It's just…I fear that before Cologne will receive word back from the tribe, Shampoo will have done something stupid. I know her and she's not given up –not yet."

Ranma sighed, tempted to shout denials but forced himself to calm down. This was not something he wanted to do, ever. Not with Mousse or anyone else.

"Mousse, you love Shampoo, right?"

The other boy didn't hesitate and Ranma vaguely wondered how he didn't feel any embarrassment whatsoever for confessing his feelings so openly. According to his dad a man didn't talk about his feelings and yet here was Mousse practically shouting it from the rooftops.

"More than anything else in the world."

The pigtailed boy sighed slightly, eyes fixed on the stars, contemplative.

"Have you ever thought about it? How far you'd go for her? …Would you give your life for hers? If it came down to her or someone else, whom would you choose? Would you hesitate? And would you…kill for her?"

The Amazon leaned back, unconsciously mirroring Ranma's pose as he too stared at the stars.

"I have. And I know Shampoo doesn't realise this, despite my words to her, but there is nothing I wouldn't do for her. That's why I made her look into the mirror when she came out of the egg. I want her –Shampoo. Even if that means she'll never be mine. An obedient slave with only her face and body would…lose its appeal, don't you think? No challenge, no one to fight…"

In spite of himself, Ranma found his lips quirking into a grin. Yeah, that described his own relationship with his tomboy down to a T.

"Yeah."

Mousse looked over, eyes searching as they scanned the other boy.

"Shampoo is very attractive, don't you think, Saotome?"

The other boy froze slightly, sending him a curious look before shrugging and leaning back again.

"She is. I mean, she doesn't exactly hide her body, ya know. But…she's missing that spunk. She's not a challenge. Plus, I don't think I could ever live in a society where men are below women. 'sides, man, she turns into a cat. That's just never gonna happen."

Mousse laughed quietly when his rival shuddered at the mere thought of cats.

"Yeah, I suppose not. Akane is rather attractive as well, don't you think?"

Ranma was glaring at him before he realised the other boy was taunting him. Smiling wryly he shook his head at his own reaction, blushing.

"Hmm. I s'pose she does clean up well when she wants to."

The other boy laughed and after a moment Ranma joined in. Yeah, somehow he and Mousse were actually quite similar. Head over heels in love with stupidly independent female martial artist who wouldn't back down and kept running headfirst into danger.

Kasumi came out at that moment to meet up with him and Mousse parted with a small nod of acknowledgement towards him. Maybe there was something to this sort of male camaraderie after all, Ranma acknowledge. He did feel just that bit more relaxed now.

Smiling lightly he jumped until he was beside Kasumi again, casually strolling in direction of the Kuno compound.

"Soo…Now off to see the nutjobs?"

"Ranma…"

Strange, just a threatening tone in her voice and he found himself ducking his head at the admonishment. He was glad that none of his enemies had ever acquired that stern tone of voice that somehow always managed to make him feel four inches tall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ah, Ryoga."

Nabiki winced visibly at the controlled rage she could hear in her sister's voice. She wasn't surprised to see the lost boy simply look at her younger sister with relief. Somehow he had always managed to divert Akane's anger to her fiancéand thus escaped ever seeing her truly mad. Although even Ranma had only ever succeeded, on very few memorable occasions, to have her quietly seething with rage.

Nabiki shuddered involuntarily, taking a step back into what she hoped would be a safe zone. She wasn't going to leave her sister alone with the pig (Ha! How fitting!) but she also didn't want to be within reach of her sister punches and kicks.

"Ah, Akane, I knew you'd understand."Ryoga gave Nabiki a sharp glare at this and she stared at him incredulously. No one could be quite this oblivious, surely?!

"See, this is all Ranma's fault."

Nabiki blanched, looking at Akane. She still had that eerily calm smile pasted on her lips. But there were advantages to being observant and to living for this long in the same house with her. The veins on her neck were tight and Nabiki knew Akane was gritting her teeth. The pulsing near her left temple was a clear sign of just how angry she was and her hands kept clenching and unclenching periodically. Oh dear, Ryoga was going to die. Slowly and painfully judging by her sister's state.

"Oh, Ranma's fault?", Akane's voice had a velvety steel like quality which still escaped the boy's notice to Nabiki's astonishment. She continued in a sugary voice that served to only set the middle sister further on edge.

"Oh no, how could he? Please, do explain to me Ryoga, how you sleeping in my bed, watching me undress and putting your face in my breasts is Ranma's fault."She gave him a cold smile even as her voice became hard. "I'd _really_ like to know."

Cringing, Nabiki took another step back. No matter how good Ryoga was, with her sister in this state he wouldn't stand a chance. She doubted even Ranma would win against Akane when she was _this_ livid.

"Of course, Akane-chan!" Ryoga smiled happily, missing the narrowing of the blue haired girl's eyes at his affectionate term. "I mean, I was in China because Ranma wasn't there for our duel. I mean, a real man would never run from a fight. Though I suppose it's kind of fitting now that he turns into a girl." He gave a low chuckle, somehow still missing the way Akane's hands were clenched tightly enough the white was showing on her knuckles. "Anyway, Ranma in his cursed form was chasing after his pop and hit me –that's how I ended up as P-Chan."

Uh-oh. Akane's glare had only hardened and her mouth was now pressed into a firm line. Ryoga still seemed happily oblivious, smiling widely at her younger sister.

"Uh-huh. And what does that have to do with you sleeping in my bed, looking at me naked or burrowing your face in my breasts?"

"We-Well, you loved me and took me in."

Wow, this boy was really digging himself in deeper and deeper with every word. She wouldn't have thought that was possible after all his transgressions so far.

"No! I loved a house pet–which you are definitely not. Now, one last chance, Ryoga. WHAT the FUCK does Ranma have to do with everything YOU have done to me?"

Eyes wide, Ryoga finally seemed to be cognizant of the danger he was in –too bad, the realization had come far too late.

"I- Well- He was angry and jealous whenever I-"

Whoops, it seemed as though the infamous Saotome open-mouth-insert-foot disease was contagious.

WHACK!

Ryoga slammed to the ground with the force of Akane's slap. Unfortunately for him it didn't seem to have soothed any of her ire. Her foot collided with his ribs before she placed it on top of the most sensitive area on a guy's body.

"Let me get this straight,"Akane's foot pressed down, eliciting a slight squeak from the pale boy,"you did all this to make Ranma jealous and angry?"

"Ah, well…You were always kind to me and no one had ever-"

Akane had taken her foot away, pulled Ryoga up in one sharp move before her hand blurred and repeatedly landed in his stomach. Said boy curled up slightly protectively, wincing in pain, eyes wide as the girl he thought he loved advanced on him again.

"_Well, boo hoo_!"

Nabiki stared, now wide eyed herself, at the menacing form of her younger sister. Whoa, maybe she should call Kasumi back…or maybe just wait until dark; that way Ranma could help bury the body.

"I have news for you –If someone is nice to you, you don't go around abusing their kindness by lying to them, betraying them, being a pervert and a stalker, sleeping in their bed and watching them when they are unaware! You're a creep! And since that's how you behaved I'm not surprised I was the first person to be nice to you!"

Nabiki almost flinched back when Ryoga was stupid enough to speak up again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Bu-But Ranma-"

WHACK! SMASH! CRACK!

Akane was now holding the boy plus umbrella by his neck up at the wall. Nabiki stared momentarily –wasn't that umbrella alone unbelievably heavy? Never mind lifting both umbrella, boy and pack _one-handed_. This really wasn't going to end well.

"RANMA is honourable! He would never ever do what you did you perverted pig! He tried to save me! And YOU! You dare preach to me what a man should be like! You've got some nerve!"

She glared, stepping closer until her face was barely separated from his, eyes narrow and hateful as she gazed at the boy who had abused her trust.

"A MAN would not sneak into a woman's bedroom! A MAN wouldn't sleep in a woman's bed without her consent! A MAN wouldn't watch her naked without her permission! A MAN wouldn't abuse any curse of his for his own perverted pleasures! And A MAN would certainly not try to shove off his own responsibilities –instead he would face his victim and confess his crimes! _You, Ryoga Hibiki, disgust me_! Never before have I ever hated someone but I'll make _you_ the exception!"

With another knee in his stomach and three punches, Ryoga was once again on the ground, groaning in pain. Akane did have to admit that at least he had yet to attack her or defend himself.

"And let me tell you one more thing –Ranma is ten times the man you are! He never ran from your challenge –he waited. It's your own fault for not leaving the week before the match in the vague hope that you might turn up on time. He waited THREE FUCKING DAYS for you. I wouldn't have waited more than two HOURS! Ranma has had the possibility of sleeping in my bed but he slept on the floor instead! He could've seen me naked any number of times but he's always tried to protect _my modesty_ and looked the other way! Ranma has admitted and apologized for his mistakes! _What have you done?_ Oh yes, you've come here and when my sister told you you're not welcome, you used your strength as a martial artist and as a male against her. You are dishonourable to the extreme! And I would definitely not call you a real man! You blame everyone but yourself for everything that goes wrong in your life! Well, get a grip!"

Akane snorted.

"Your life is not perfect, but then whose is? Mine isn't. Ranma's isn't. You have abused my trust and me. Does that sound like something a man would do?"

Her lips twisted bitterly as she stared at the other boy. The horrible realization of what he'd done finally seemed to penetrate the Ryoga's twisted psyche. Akane gritted her teeth, staring at the cringing boy as her hands once again blurred as she attacked the martial artist.

"Before this I was actually _defending you_ to Ranma! I actually thought you were decent –nice, kind, helpful, pleasant…genuine. I felt sympathetic towards you –on the rare occasions you did find your way home there was a good chance that your parents wouldn't be there. You had to raise yourself –often you'd be in other countries with people talking in foreign languages. You wouldn't recognize half the places you'd be in and you would simply have to keep walking until you'd somehow, at some point, find your way back home. I actually felt bad for you. I actually thought you were a good guy, rare as they are. But you were the opposite –you fooled me. I realise life was hard for you, but FUCK it's hard for others too! I've got news for you, Ryoga–you're not the only fucking person on the planet and not everything revolves around you. You're upset, I get that, believe me, but that doesn't mean the world_owes_ you anything."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Akane smashed her fist into the ground beside his head, staring at his wide eyes, her own eyes hard and cold.

"This is life, not a fairytale. You're not entitled to anything, not even to your happy ending. And you- you sicken me. If you ever –_ever_–dare to come near me or my family again, I will not hesitate and that punch will land on your head."

Ryoga glanced to the massive hole she'd left in the ground just beside him and gulped, throat dry.

"Don't talk to me, don't touch me and don't ever come near me again. In return I'll let you live."

Wiping blood from his mouth, hand protectively curled around his ribs –experience told him that a couple of them were actually broken –he looked up at the girl he'd once loved and didn't recognize her.

Face twisted beyond recognition and instead of affection and kindness there was only horror, pain and hate in her eyes. Wincing slightly, he shook his head.

"I see that Ran-"

Her fist came out of nowhere, the air from the speed as it blew past him ruffling his hair even as it impacted the wall. The massive stones crumbled as if they were made of sand and Ryoga unwittingly flinched back.

_"__DON__'__T YOU DARE TALK TO ME!__"_

Maybe he should try another time –right now he was too injured anyway. He'd seek out Ranma and challenge him, then surely Akane would see that he was stronger and better than Ranma; plus he'd get the chance to pay him back for making Akane say all this to him. It was clear now that this was not Akane –Ranma obviously had made himself look good and lied to her about him.

With a curt nod to both Tendos, Ryoga strategically retreated. He'd better go to a doctor and have it looked at. Where was that guy again? Oh yeah –right.

Turning left, Ryoga disappeared into the distance.

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Breathing heavily, Akane was left staring at their broken wall, anger still coursing through her body.

"H-Hey sis…"

Nabiki felt strangely hesitant to approach her younger sister after seeing the damage she'd done to both the boy and their building. She was even more taken aback when Akane whirled around, a wide smile on her lips.

"Wow, that felt good. I think I'll go to the Dojo to practice some more, kay, Oneechan?"

Watching her sister rush off in direction of the training hall, Nabiki's lips twisted bitterly. Her sister wasn't fooling anyone with that smile but she did need some time to herself to deal with this.

With a sigh the middle sister looked at the destruction and set to repairing everything as best as she could before going back inside the house to calculate the money they would need to pay for having the property restored after the latest fight. Akane would find her if she needed to, though Nabiki couldn't help but suspect she'd be looking for Ranma instead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sinking to the floor in the dark dojo, Akane stared straight ahead.

She'd done it again –in her anger she'd hit Ryoga even though he hadn't lifted a finger to defend himself. She'd heard the crack of broken bones –likely his ribs –and still not stopped. Everything inside of her had wanted him to feel the way he had made her feel –helpless, weak, defenseless.

_'__God, what have I done?__'_

But she still felt all the anger, the fury, at him and everything he'd done. There was still the strong desire to keep beating him.

Akane winced slightly. The feel of human skin, muscle and bones under her hands was quite different to a dummy. Usually it didn't bother her because she'd been provoked, attacked and was merely defending herself…but this had been different.

_'__Ranma__…__?__'_

_'__Ah,__…'__kane? Everything okay?__'_

She chuckled slightly, feeling his hesitation mixed with apprehension flooding through her. He was nervous as he'd obviously felt at least part of her ire.

_'__Don__'__t worry, I__'__m not mad with you.__'_

_'__I wasn__'__t worried. I could take you any day, tomboy.__'_

_'__Uh-huh.__'_ Akane sighed slightly.

_'__So__…__dare I ask what happened? Didn__'__t think anyone else besides me could make you that mad.__'_

This at least elicited a weak smile from her, feeling his anxiousness and worry come through to her. It was…kind of nice to actually know that Ranma was concerned about her.

_'__Ryoga. Ryoga happened.__'_

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Ranma froze, eyes wide as he received Akane's thoughts. He didn't even notice Kasumi's surprised glance backward as he gathered his ki, prepared to run back to the Tendo dojo should Akane be injured or, god help him, if Ryoga was still there.

_'__Are you okay? Akane? Do you want me to come back? Is he still there? Are you okay? C__'__mmon, __'__kane!__'_

A sudden and confusing influx of emotions from Akane made him crinkle his forehead in bewilderment –anger, embarrassment, happiness and affection.

_'__I__'__m okay, Ranma. Really. Don__'__t worry__…__On the other hand I don__'__t think he is though.__'_

Relief flooded him –his own feelings this time –and he slowly started walking again. It's funny, in that moment, that flash, he forgot everything about Amazons, Mousse, Cologne, Shampoo and kisses of marriage. All that mattered was Akane. He could still feel an undercurrent of horror from her and tried to calm her down.

_'__It__'__s nothing he didn__'__t deserve. __'__sides, this is Ryoga, he__'__ll bounce back in no time. You sound off, though. You sure you__'__re okay? Did he hit you?__'_

A light laugh sounded through his head and the amusement in her voice was clear.

_'__What, you going to find him and beat him up again if he did?__'_

His thoughts were too quick for him to stop even if he had tried. The same protectiveness that had risen up in him earlier against the Amazons flooded through him.

_'__In a heartbeat if he hurt you.__'_

Another wave of affection and warmth came through from his fiancée.

_'__Thank you__…__I- You__…__Ryoga didn__'__t lift a finger in his defense. But I still hit him. He just __–__he made me so angry. He took something from me and I just__…__I can__'__t stand it, can__'__t stand him. And I couldn__'__t stop myself; I just hit and kicked him__…__Oh, and, err, the wall beside our entrance may or may not have a big hole in it.__'_

Wide eyed, Ranma whistled slightly, ignoring Kasumi's confused glances his way with practiced ease.

_'__Woah. Even fighting pops and having him send me into it full strength only put a dent in it__–__that wall__'__s made of granite or something. You must__'__ve been fiercely mad to actually punch through the thing. Huh. Kudos for not killing Ryoga in that state then.__'_

And almost immediately Ranma realised he'd hit a nerve. Anxiousness, worry, satisfaction and upset came from Akane and it took him a moment to realise what had set her off.

_'__You__'__re being stupid.__'_

_'…__What?__'_

_'__You__'__re being stupid. I__'__ll say it more often if you like.__'_

He could nearly hear her harrumph at the teasing tone in his thoughts. Suppressing a laugh, he explained before Akane ripped _his_ head off instead of pig-boy's.

_'__First of all, pig-boy deserved it. No doubt about that, right? Okay. Secondly, you__'__re a martial artist. Your first instinct will always be to fight. You defended yourself as far as I__'__m concerned. And I__'__m sure Ryoga will be back in no time, he seems to be a glutton for punishment. He__'__ll defend himself against me and no worries, I__'__ll happily beat him up on your behalf if it offends your sensibilities to hit pig-boy. Thirdly, you stopped. You didn__'__t kill him and from what you__'__ve told me he was able to walk on his own and not even unconscious. As far as I__'__m concerned you went too easy on the guy.__'_

Ranma wished he'd figured out how to transmit emotions to her –but he'd never really dealt or thought about his own too much so it was hard to suddenly call on a specific one at will. But luckily Akane felt calmer when she responded.

_'__Thank you, Ranma. I- I told him not to come back or ever talk to me again but like you said, I doubt he__'__s going to listen, if for no other reason that he appears to have no control over where he ends up. And__…__just, thank you. It just- I have never actually felt that__…__livid before. For the first time I actually wasn__'__t sure I wanted to stop - and it scared me. How do you__…__?__'_

Ranma sighed slightly, feeling the familiar surge of protectiveness and worry as he remembered Saffron. Really –why was everyone so obsessed with the last fight and felt the need to have him regurgitate all the details over and over again? He'd much prefer never having to remember the entire thing.

_'__Trust me, it__'__s different. It__'__s weird and I can__'__t quite describe it but__…__there__'__s a limit to how far you__'__d go for yourself. You__'__re upset but as long as it__'__s only you that__'__s affected it__'__s something within your power to forgive or make judgment on, if that makes sense. It__'__s different if it__'__s someone else. I__'__ve been in a lot of fights __–__for me, for you, for others__…'_

Closing his eyes, Ranma tightened his fists minutely. Akane needed to know this just now and he could deal with it, he told himself.

_'__My main motivation when I fought Saffron wasn__'__t my pride or even winning __–__I just wanted him gone long enough to save you. Nothing else mattered and__…__Well, when he refused he gave me no other choice. I didn__'__t__–__You didn__'__t have the time it would__'__ve taken to beat him into submission, never mind whether I could__'__ve. The moment Saffron refused to let me save you I knew I couldn__'__t keep holding back. I had to go all out or risk losing you and__…__that just wasn__'__t an option. If you__'__re asking me if I__'__d have made the same choice not knowing he__'__d be reborn__…__I didn__'__t know. I thought I__'__d killed him __–__and technically I have. But __'__kane, that was different. It wasn__'__t for revenge or to stop him from marrying you or something along those lines. It was your life against his and it was my call to make__…__And__… __Akane, I__'__d choose you every time.__'_

Ranma's emotions were overwhelmed by the influx from Akane –a dizzying rush of sheer, unadulterated joy, an incredibly warm, soft feeling of strong affection –love? – and admiration. He couldn't help but feel giddy at the sensations he could feel from her –the feelings she was having towards him. He blushed unable to stop himself from grinning widely at the bemused Kasumi.

_'__Thank you, Ranma. I can only guess how hard that was for you but- just, thank you. And__… __Just for the record__…__I__'__d choose you, too.__'_

Both teenagers smiled widely even though they were technically currently miles apart, content to enjoy each other's presence in their minds while their physical bodies were separate.

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PLEASE REVIEW! Hope you liked the fluffyness near the end.

**Jabber185:** Thank you for your review and your comments. You'll see some violence and of course a lot discussions up ahead. Let me know what you think!

**Richard Ryley**: Thank you for your review and letting me know your thoughts. I'll have to say the amazons are going to react pretty much the way you had expected them to, but I'll let you read the rest. Ryoga's inability to talk clearly to Akane is going to land him in trouble. I do agree, he's got Akari and his attitude towards Ranma and Akane does appear to have changed at least somewhat after Jusendo. But remember he saw Akane and Ranma together on a date, then as far as he's concerned it looked like Ranma exposed his curse – why else would Akane suddenly know? – and so obviously it's all Ranma's fault. Because Akane is wonderful and all things nice and she never would be angry at Ryoga unless it's Ranma's fault :) I do plan on Ryoga later on thinking about it but at the moment it's only a day later, he's still incensed and the it's all Ranma's fault is a comfortable pattern to fall back into. He will redeem himself slowly but at the moment his lack of social skills means he's simply not seeing things from Akane's POV. Anyway, hope that clears some bits up and you'll enjoy the chapter.

**Linkgold64: **Thank you for both your comments and yes, Ryoga is a dead man. I do hope you'll enjoy the coming chapter even with lack of head injuries :)

**serenityselena: **It's Kasumi's and Ranma's turn to shine again. And yes, Ryoga does need to appreciate from Akane's POV what he did... Hope you'll enjoy it!

**Compucles: **Thank you for your review. *lol* That's the beauty of readers – I never even thought of any implications when comparing Ukyo to a dog (I just randomly picked a pet one might have). Maybe it was a subconscious comparison *lol* Yes, Ryoga is going to be in for one hell of a welcome. And they will be chatting to both Kuno's so fingers crossed as to how that'll go down. But that won't be until next chapter. Anyway, let me know what you think!

**Ryu238: **Yay, thank you for your review and your compliments *blush* I hope you'll enjoy the next chapter as well!

**Wingman0: **Yay, thank you for your review. I'm glad you're enjoying it. Please let me know what you think of this chapter!

**aLazyButSmartFanPJO: **Thank you for your review. I think I just 1.5xtimes the length of chapter in this one. So hope you'll enjoy it! And thanks for noting the cliffhanger. This time I've been a bit nicer :)

**own son: **Hi! Thank you for your review. Sorry for the misunderstanding – she was in the dojo in Chapter three, then managed to knock herself out attempting a more Saotome aerial kata and hence why she was safely ensconced in Ranma's bed when she woke up. Hope that answers your question! Let me know what you think of the latest chapter, please!

**WalkersCrown:** Thank you for your review. *lol* I like RanAke :) Your idea does sound interesting... Hmmm... let me think about it. It won't fit into the plot for this one unfortunately :) but maybe I'll think of a new fanfic (because I don't have sufficient amount of unfinished ones already *lol*). I'm glad you think their relationship is advancing. I hope you'll enjoy the next chapter! It's got a bit of sweet RanAke moment near the end :)

**caia-chan: **Thank you for leaving another review! I do like a more forceful Kasumi. I hope you'll enjoy the next chapter as it'll be somewhat along a similar line ... Let me know what you think.

**Guest: **Thank you for your review. Here's another chapter which will resolve last week's cliffhanger at the very least.

**Flameraven1: **Thank you for your review. I pretty much agree entirely with all your thoughts but one thing to maybe clarify – they'd only receive each others thoughts if they were thinking hard about projecting them or the thought itself due to the distance between them currently. However Ranma may – or may not – receive emotions so... anyway. I'll let you read. All the other points you brought up are in the next chapter. Give me another review please and let me know if you like the way it's been resolved?

**BobV: **Thank you for your lengthy review. I quite like my third option but after all the reviews I'll focus on the timetravel one first :)

I know – I like how much Ranma is willing to do for her and vice versa. They have both been forced to make concessions but now with the thought-sharing they really have no choice but to resolve their differences rather quickly.

I do love Adamantine Mist – and I was re-reading the chapter by chance in the Manga where everyone thought Kasumi was angry. I loved that.

Yeah, Ryoga has trouble, like Ranma, due to a lack of social skills. He finds it hard in my opinion to emphasise or see things from another person's POV. He'll learn though – or, well, I'll make him. A bit more bashing before then, though. Hope you'll enjoy this chapter – let me know what you thought of it!

**The Keeper of Worlds: **Thank you for your review. I do like Ryoga too, at least sometimes. I think his problem, like Ranma, is lack of social skills. He doesn't think about how other people would feel or see things from their point of view. Don't worry – he'll redeem himself, slowly but steadily. But for the moment he's a dumb idiot who has got his head stuck up his rear ;-)

And wow, thank you! I have no idea what honor debates are but it sounds flattering either way :) Yes – the amazons. The chapter is now up - please enjoy and as always leave me a review to let me know what you thought.


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